


Smoke and Mirrors

by Miss_Nihilist



Category: Ben 10 Series, The Secret Saturdays
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Childhood Trauma, DURING CANON FOR BEN 10, Deception, Dissociation, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR TSS, Magic and Science, Mental Instability, Murder, On Hiatus, POST-CANON FOR TSS, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Resurrection, Revenge, Season/Series 02 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 54,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21640252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Nihilist/pseuds/Miss_Nihilist
Summary: With Dr. Animo having escaped Plumber prison weeks ago, Ben and Rook are on the case. They don’t expect anything more than another crazy plot for world domination, but it soon becomes clear that there’s more going on than meets the eye. The Saturday family is tracking cryptid disappearances that began right around the time of Dr. Animo’s escape. But what could be the reason behind it all?Though his temporary partners seem friendly enough, Ben begins to question what secret Zak is so intent on hiding — and whether or not it could be the key to something bigger than all of mankind.[Rewrite of theBen 10: Omniverseepisode, "T.G.I.S."]
Relationships: Doc Saturday & Drew Saturday & Fiskerton Saturday & Zak Saturday, Rook Blonko & Ben Tennyson, Zak Saturday & Ben Tennyson
Comments: 78
Kudos: 118





	1. PROLOGUE: Revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"The ends justify the means,”_ or at least, that was how the saying went.

The moon provided the lighting of their rendezvous, a symphony of police sirens providing a dim soundtrack. The warehouse they had selected to lay low in was rotting and falling apart, what little structure that remained providing hardly any shelter from the midnight chill. Deep shadows cast the three of them into silhouettes, panting and gasping for breath. Far in the distance, red and blue lights flashed between streets, but they came no closer. 

Once it was certain that their pursuers weren’t going to come any closer, there was an unhappy grunt and one of the figures tore himself free of another’s grip and stumbled forward. Pulling himself up to his full height, the man — the only one of the three who could be considered “human” — sneered in the face of his associates. 

“I am quite capable of holding myself up,” he snapped, brushing his sleeve where the largest of the three had been holding onto his arm. Granted, it was for the express purpose of getting him away from the pursuing authorities more quickly, but that didn’t mean that he had to like it. He straightened the red-tinted goggles over his eyes, trying to look composed and dignified, before turning back to the other two. “We can skip the formalities. I’ve lost patience for that sort of drivel over the years. Speaking of…” He gestured openly with both arms. “Why now? After all this time? I assume I’ve been released from my imprisonment to complete my end of the bargain.” 

The two non-human figures exchanged glances. The larger one grunted, almost uninterested, and turned his head away. With a noise of defeat, the smaller one took it upon himself to step out of the shadows. He stood hunched over, clearly not worried about intimidation or first impressions. Fangs jutted out from his lower jaw, lining his slightly protruding muscle. In the silver light from the sky, the orange fur covering his body appeared to glow.

“You have been rather hard to come by, Doctor,” the ape-like creature spoke in near-perfect English, only the hint of a Chinese accent to his careful words. “We tried to find you two years ago, but it’s only been now that you’ve made yourself known again.”

The good doctor scoffed, then seemed to relax, puffing his chest out. “Yes, well— I had my hands full. Traversing other dimensions for the sake of my experiments and all that.”

If either of the other two were impressed, then they didn’t show it — dimension hopping or not, most of the last two years had passed him by on the other side of a prison cell. The small ape nodded absently, almost appeasing. “Then you should have a better idea of what you’re doing than most.” 

He gestured, with one furry hand, to the tallest of the three — something that could no longer be considered a man despite the obvious masculine features. It had muscles thicker than most people, but also extra appendages and a blood lust that suited its pincers and the thick, suffocating webbing it could produce. At the command, the spider-like creature produced what appeared at first to be a stick. 

Upon closer expression, it was clearly much more than that. The staff was metallic and shined, clearly cared for, reflecting the moonlight off of its curved base. One end held a crystalline green skull, artfully carved, and the other balanced a bird talon with three, double-pointed claws. There was a button near the fanged end, implying that, despite the craftsmanship, it was a tool and not a decoration. 

There was a slight gasp of awe and the doctor took it without hesitation, running his gangly and pointed fingers over the shaft almost reverently. “Is this truly…?”

The ape nodded. “Yes. Pure antimatter.”

Particle physics wasn’t his area of study, but as a scientist, the doctor could appreciate the marvel of the object in his hands. He turned it over several times, admiring it, and curled it almost protectively to his chest. “I heard about the “accident” when I came back. Those Secret Scientists covered it up so well that I almost missed it. I’m guessing that there wasn’t actually a leaking gas pipe?” 

“The reality of his demise was far more complicated,” the ape agreed grimly. He gestured to the weapon in the doctor’s hands. “He split himself at the quantum level and was torn between dimensions. This weapon is, I believe, the first step to his return.” 

Thoughtfully, the doctor stroked his chin, dropping the smug and self-confident front to genuinely ponder the situation for a moment. “I suppose it is possible,” he allowed. “Still, I will need the matter counterpart if I’m going to be tearing between dimensions without killing us all. Do you have that as well?” 

For the first time, the ape looked unsure. He shook his head. “No, I do not. But I do know where I can find it. It belongs to a child.”

There was a snort of disgust, a sneer on the doctor’s face. “Children can be quite _meddlesome_ , though.” He opened his lab coat and tucked the anti-matter weapon away neatly, feeling how it sizzled and tingled ever-so-slightly against his skin and the fabric and anything else it came into contact with. “Very well. I do owe him. You two can procure the counterpart weapon that we need and I’ll get to work on constructing a suitable body. I’m sure that there is no shortage of fascinating subjects in the area…”

No more words were said. Finished, the doctor turned away and took his leave from the incriminating scene. The two that he left behind had polar expressions — doubt and determination — but when they looked at each other, there was a shared convention. Regardless of how it turned out, they both knew full-well where their loyalties were tied. 

The orange ape turned his head toward the moon through a splintered gap in the roof. He closed his eyes, already muttering apologies under his breath for what the horrible things he knew he would do. _“The ends justify the means,”_ or at least, that was how the saying went.

“I’m sorry,” the Xing-Xing muttered to no one. “I will be seeing you soon… Old friend.”


	2. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The crossover episode sucked and, as a die-hard fan of both _Ben 10_ and _The Secret Saturdays_ , I'm incredibly offended by it (six years after it aired). So strap in, kiddos. We're rewriting this episode and, this time, we're doing it right.

The sun was teetering on the horizon when the doors of the warehouse were flung open. The first thing to breach the threshold was the muzzle of a futuristic gun, scanning carefully for any signs of life… followed almost immediately by a pair of tennis shoes, kicking a thin layer of dust off of the floor and no doubt scattering precious evidence with it.

"Ben!" A soft-spoken voice hissed, the gun clicking away as it was safely holstered. Why bother anymore? "We are looking for a criminal. You should treat all possible hideouts with a certain level of precaution."

"Relax, Rook," drawled a teenage boy as he ran a hand through his thick brown hair. Brushing his bangs out of the way, vivid green eyes took in the empty "crime scene" with an unimpressed stare before Ben Tennyson turned back to his designated partner with a cheesy grin and a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I give this place the seal of approval. Definitely the sort of place that attracts B-level villains, but Animo hasn't been here. There would be way more test-tubes if that was the case." He paused, considering something, then added, "I'm just saying that because I think you forgot that we're not chasing a _real_ criminal. He's not dangerous, he's just… Dr. Animo." Ben shrugged, shoving his hands into the pockets of his brown cargo pants. "I've been beating him regularly since I was ten. Don't worry so much."

There was a scowl on Rook Blonko's face when he straightened out of his crouch, his expression faintly hidden beneath the layer of blue-tinted fur that covered his body. The white and black markings on his face helped to distinguish his features, making it clear where his brow furrowed and bringing his eyes — orange sclera surrounding slit pupils — into the center of attention. "That is no reason to let your guard down," he said tensely. "Animo has been on the run for weeks now. That is not his typical behavior. It is possible that he is planning something big."

With a dismissive wave at his Revonnahgander partner, Ben turned away from him and stepped further into the empty, falling apart warehouse. "Yeah, maybe. So what? He's had big stunts before." He held up a hand, counting the incidents off on his fingers as he listed them. "There was the time he reanimated dinosaur fossils, the time he kidnapped me and tried to use DNA from the Omnitrix to mutate animals, the time he tried to "de-evolutionize" the world by strapping a DNA bomb to a nuclear reactor, the time he—"

"I think that I get it," Rook sighed irritably, though he followed Ben into the warehouse without any real malice. "What is your point?"

There was a grin on Ben's face when he answered. "The point is that all of those things happened when I was ten and, last I checked, he hasn't killed anyone yet." He gestured around him and kicked a forlorn piece of wood, sending it clattering into the far wall. "All he's got is a trail of possible hideouts and reports of "weird" animal sightings all over Bellwood. This is the fifth warehouse we've checked this week alone. I'm just saying, Rook, we could call it quits and wait it out. He's going to come after me to get his revenge and I'll beat him when he does, like I always do."

Understandably, Rook didn't look convinced. He shook his head. "That is a dangerous attitude to have, Ben. I am not doubting your skills as a hero, but all it takes is one missed opportunity and it may be too late to ever stop him again."

A flicker of emotion passed over Ben's face — Concern? Understanding? Guilt? — and was almost immediately replaced by a frown. He huffed, stepping away from Rook. "Yeah, whatever. I've heard it all before, but Rook—"

His words were cut off as the floorboard sank beneath Ben's foot. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have cared, but the soft sound of ticking caught his attention and Ben froze with his heart in his throat. Sprinting into motion, Rook grabbed his partner by the wrist and threw him to the ground behind a broken crate before dropping down on top of Ben and using his body as a shield.

Not a moment later, the bomb went off, the explosion rocking the fragile wooden frame of the warehouse. There was a wave of noise and heat, causing the crate shielding them to splinter and smolder. Bits of burnt wood bounced off of Rook's sturdy Proto-Armor. Had it been Ben's flammable and flimsy pedestrian clothes, there was no doubt that it could have ended a lot less harmlessly.

Barely giving the shock a moment to pass, Ben squirmed out from beneath Rook and popped up onto his feet. He jogged the short distance over to where the bomb had been, eyeing the green-tinted smoke rising from the small pit left behind. The wooden floor closest to the explosion almost looked as though it had been melted with acid and the air smelled of uranium.

Ben crinkled up his nose in disgust. "Ugh, nasty. That was a DNA bomb. Definitely Animo's handy work." He turned and shot Rook a shaky smile. "Nice save, partner. On the bright side, now we know for sure that he _was_ here. This isn't his usual style, though." He wandered back over to Rook, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Animo is more of the guy to, y'know, make an event out of it." He made an explosion gesture with his hands. "He'd usually take out the whole building, not a few floorboards. So why would he bother...?"

Rook's eyes crossed as he focused on something in the air in front of him. Deftly, his hand snapped out, plucking a hair from the settling dust around them. He held it up to the light, showing off his catch, before pressing the orange hair to his tongue.

"Oh, dude!" Ben made a gagging sound. "You don't know where that's been! Don't put it in your mouth! That's the stuff you learn when you're, like, three. Did they not teach kids that on your planet?"

Faintly amused, Rook complied and removed the strange hair from his mouth. "No. My species has a great deal more nerves in our mouths than humans do. I was hoping to glean something informative." He reached for one of the many supply packs that were connected to his Proto-Armor, hanging around his waist. From one of them, Rook pulled a plastic bag before safely depositing the hair into it for evidence. "It is not human hair. We can scan it back at the base. It may have belonged to one of the weird animals that have been spotted since Animo's prison escape."

Disgust apparently forgotten, Ben nodded and relaxed. "Really? Cool, we may finally get a lead in this case." He emphasized his point by pounding his palm with a fist. At his wrist, a green-and-white watch gleamed proudly in the sparse sunlight. "Can't wait to put Animo right back where he belongs: on his face in the dirt."

There was an agreeing hum from Rook as he looked around them. Other than the objects nearest the explosion, nothing else seemed to have been recently disturbed. "First we must actually find him. I was thinking that you could turn into Armodrillo and we could check beneath this warehouse for some sort of secret bunker. There were no traps planted at any of the other locations, so it might be wise to—"

He was cut off when there was a loud thump on the roof. A shadow passed over one of the holes in the ceiling, caused by rot after years without maintenance, and a tall, slumping figure dropped down into the warehouse.

Rook already had his gun, the multi-purpose Proto-Tool, in his hands and was aiming it at the creature. Next to him, Ben had pressed a button to pop open his wristwatch. The face-plate split cleanly in two and separated down the middle to allow the core inside to pop up. It glowed faintly green as Ben's hand hovered over it, ready to slam it right back down.

The figure stood with its back to them, peering over the hole left in the floor from the bomb. Scattered sunlight trickled over it, revealing a full-body coat of thick, tawny fur. It stood hunched over, hands dangling well past its knees. Even slumped, it was easily eight feet tall. When it turned its attention to the corner where Rook and Ben stood cast in shadow, it had piercing red eyes that seemed to radiate the light around them.

The hum of Rook's blaster startled him from his surprise, just in time for Ben to shove his partner's arm to the side before Rook could shoot the creature.

"Rook, you can't just—!" Ben started to make his case, but the thing, a gorilla-like animal, cut him off.

It made a chattering sound that almost sounded like speech, looking downright excited as it swiftly crossed the room toward them. Of course, Rook's response was to swing the Proto-Tool right back around, over Ben's head the second time, and attempt to take aim at the perceived threat. Just as he was going to pull the trigger, Ben reacting too slowly to stop him a second time, the gorilla was upon them.

Ben found himself hefted off of his feet effortlessly and, too surprised to defend himself, got a face-full of fur as the gorilla-thing pulled him in close. For a moment, Ben thought that he was about to experience another kidnapping, but other than being squeezed uncomfortably tight, nothing happened. It took him another few seconds to realize that he was being hugged.

Muffled by the fur, Rook's voice reached him. "Ben?" He tried, sounding hesitant.

The lanky arms holding him slacked and Ben was deposited gently back onto his feet. He automatically brushed the fur off of his shirt, ignoring Rook in favor of staring at the gorilla. It was still "talking" animatedly, waving its huge hands and looking at Ben with big eyes, almost like…

"It's… fine, Rook," Ben said finally, feeling his partner shift to stand next to him. "I don't think it's dangerous. I think it's a fan."

He could practically hear the eyebrow raise in Rook's response. "Really? A fan? I find that exceedingly unlikely." A glance showed that he had yet to re-holster the Proto-Tool, but Ben hadn't expected him to. "This creature aligns with some of the weird animal sightings that people have been reporting across Bellwood. In all likelihood, this is another one of Animo's traps and this creature is just pretending to be friendly in order to get us to lower our guards for some brand of sneak attack."

Scowling, Ben turned away from the excitable gorilla to shove down on Rook's gun, pointing the muzzle at the floor. "Okay, one, it's definitely not. Animo's way too crazy for the subtle approach. And two, even if this is one of his experiments, it seems friendly. It might have escaped his control. I've seen animals do that before." He hesitated. "So, yeah, I don't have the best track record with animals, but if it isn't trying to hurt us, we should see if we can, like, peacefully get it back to Plumber base. It might end up being a pretty big clue to were Animo's hiding out or what his plan actually is this time."

Rook didn't seem convinced, but he didn't try to raise the Proto-Tool again. Not with Ben's hand still holding it down. "That also strikes me as unlikely."

They probably could have continued arguing like that for a while longer, except that the gorilla suddenly perked up. It looked to the door, ears twitching to pick up some faint noise. Rook soon stiffened, doing the same. He removed the Proto-Tool from beneath Ben's hand, aiming it past the gorilla and to the still-open doors of the warehouse where the two of them had come in.

As the only human in the room, Ben was the last one to hear the approaching footsteps. Not a second after the sound of gravel crunching beneath boots registered, a voice rang out. He didn't hear what the person was saying, but it sounded like a young boy.

The weirdest part was that the gorilla responded, cupping two hands next to its mouth to amplify its voice in a very human way. It growled something and the footsteps hurried closer.

Again, Ben raised a hand to his watch in preparation for a fight and, again, was thoroughly caught off guard. It wasn't Animo that rounded the corner, swearing revenge and cursing Ben's name but, instead, Ben was greeted by a normal-looking teenager.

Well, "normal" being used loosely. Ben had never seen _anyone_ wear that much orange.

The teenage boy looked around the warehouse with big eyes, irises such a dark brown that it was almost black. His hair was a wind-swept mess, a black mop of tangled hair that went past his shoulders and was broken only by a white mass of surprisingly straight strands that rested on the crown of his head in a spiked pattern. He was breathing hard, some sort of hand-held device clutched in his hand that he kept glancing down at.

"Fisk?" The boy muttered, eyes adjusting to the low lighting. Then his eyes caught on the gorilla-thing, still standing in front of Ben and Rook, and his expression lit up. "Fisk, there you are! I thought something happened. The explosion— Are you okay? Was anyone else hurt?"

The gorilla — named Fisk, apparently — ambled toward the boy. Thankfully, Rook didn't try to shoot it again, though his hands twitched as if resisting the urge to raise the Proto-Tool. Fisk said something, the boy looking at him intently, but it didn't take long for those dark eyes to swivel over to where Rook and Ben were. When they did, all tension immediately left the room.

The boy gasped loudly and he dropped the device that he was holding. He darted over to Ben, grinning with big eyes and tapered teeth.

Confused, Ben lowered his hand away from his watch. "Um… hi?" He tried.

"Oh my God!" The boy clasped his hands over his mouth, hiding a smile wide enough to split his face. He rocked back and forth on his feet, trying not to jump up and down. "Oh my God, you're Ben Tennyson! Oh god. I'm such a huge fan, I— can I shake your hand?" He held out his left hand, gaze darting between Ben's face and the watch at his wrist like he couldn't decide which one he wanted to commit to memory first.

Ben glanced at Rook but, despite his partner's scowl, he shrugged and stuck his left hand out with an easy smile. He had handled fans before. Okay, so this one appeared to have a large gorilla as a companion, but everyone had weird hobbies. "Yeah, sure. I—" He cut himself off when the boy enthusiastically shook his hand, hard enough to make Ben's arm sore.

Apparently not noticing, the boy kept his hold on Ben's hand and turned his palm down the ground to look at the watch. He didn't touch it, but went very still, looking stunned. Over his shoulder, the gorilla apparently named Fisk had stepped closer and was similarly impressed.

"Is that…?" He trailed off, looking up at Ben with such genuine reverence that it was almost enough to make him burst out laughing.

Managing to hold his tongue, Ben nodded and set a hand on his wrist. He pushed his jacket sleeve up higher on his arm to give a better view. "Yep. The Omnitrix, the most powerful device in three galaxies. Arguably, five." He smirked faintly. "This is pretty cool. I've never had a fan covered in fur before. Well, other than Rook." He jerked a thumb at his partner. "Or probably some other alien species. And— okay, let's just say that this is a first for Earth fans."

The kid was struck speechless, still caught between disbelief and excitement. It took Rook clearing his throat for him to let go of Ben's wrist. "If you will pardon the interruption, I must ask, who are you? What are you doing unattended in this area? An abandoned sawmill does not seem like the ideal place for a child to be unsupervised."

"I'm not a child!" The boy protested, his gorilla companion mumbling in agreement. "I'm Zak Saturday, and this is my brother, Fisk. We're here with our parents checking out the disappearance of a bunch of cryptids we tagged. For, uh, research purposes. It's very official business. We have a warrant to be on government land and everything," he said proudly.

If it was possible, Rook's skeptical frown only deepened. Ben paid him no mind, waving his hand flippantly to get the kid's attention back onto him. Not that it was hard — Zak seemed pretty eager to look at Ben for as long as he could. "You said disappearing cryptids? We've been getting reports of a bunch of weird animals popping up all over the city. Sometimes attacking people." He smirked. "But I don't remember anyone mentioning Loch Ness or Bigfoot."

Zak sputtered at the insult. "What? The Loch Ness Monster isn't _real_! I should know, I scanned the lake myself twice and only got more pieces of driftwood. And you can't talk about Bigfoot without mentioning the other species of hairy, hominoid cryptids! Lumping them all together like that— ugh, it's just wrong!" He gestured wildly at Fisk, who looked similarly offended. "I mean, Fisk has big feet and he's covered in hair. That doesn't make him a subspecies of yeti! And Bigfoot is such a basic example to give, not even—"

He was interrupted when Ben laughed, the passionate flush to his face giving way to an embarrassed one that made Zak shrink in on himself. Making Ben laugh left him with an equal bet between humiliation and some bizarre sense of pride.

"Okay, okay, no need to pull out the textbook," Ben joked. "I was just checking. Since we're talking cryptids, I wanted to be sure we had an expert on hand. If you know what ones have gone missing, we can compare them to some of the reports from the sightings and see if they line up. We could be chasing the same perp."

That made Zak perk back up, enthused, but before he could say anything Rook set a hand on Ben's shoulder and tugged him a few steps to the side.

"Are you sure that this is wise?" Rook asked his partner lowly. "We do not know anything about this person. He could be working with Dr. Animo. At the very least, his companion warrants some suspicion."

Ben arched an eyebrow. He glanced over at Fisk, who was distracted by a bird that had landed on the edge of one of the gaps in the ceiling, then turned his gaze to Zak, who had fetched his dropped hand-held and was tapping away on it while clearly listening to their conversation. He was holding the device upside down.

"Relax, Rook." Ben shrugged. "These sightings are in the news. They could have this info in literally a second if they looked it up. If anything, they're the ones with the loss, since they have to give us stuff we didn't already know. Loosen up a little, would you?" He turned away from Rook and back to Zak. As unhappy as his partner was with the decision, Ben knew that he could count on Rook to back him up regardless.

With the attention back on him, Zak pocketed his handheld without bothering to turn it off and focused on Ben. Behind him, Fisk was still stalking that bird, but the way he angled his head let it be known that he was paying attention. Frankly, Ben didn't blame him. If he wasn't hunting down Animo, his own attention span would be seriously waining by that point.

"Okay, well, I guess to start I'm here looking at the chupacabra population," Zak began. He gestured around them. "My mom told me that this warehouse set-up was supposed to be the beginnings of a lumber mill, but they never got off the ground. They started cutting down trees and people started dying." He grimaced. "Chupacabras usually aren't violent unless someone's in their territory. So my parents have had a lot of trouble tagging them over the last decade. See?" He took his handheld back out and showed it to Ben and Rook. The screen displayed a map of the nearby area, with about a hundred or so tags peppered around through the forest.

"Wow." Ben whistled lowly. "I had no idea that so many bloodsucking animals lived this close to Bellwood."

Zak gave a strained smile. "Like I said, they aren't dangerous unless you provoke them. They usually feed off of livestock and small animals. This was our count three weeks ago. Today, it's…" He tapped on the screen and whirled it around to show them the updated version, "...that." The number of dots had been more than halved, a count of only thirty-seven displayed in the corner.

"And you think that they are being taken?" Rook asked, sounding skeptical. Though, Ben really wasn't sure why. What other explanation could there be? A mass extinction seemed incredibly unlikely.

"They have to be. The tags would still work if they died," Zak explained. "The fact that they're being disabled means that someone is going out of their way to take them off. I don't know why they would move them thirty miles, to the city, just to scare a few people, though. What do the reports say?"

"Oh, you know." Ben waved a hand dismissively. "A dog-like face, huge fangs, the smell of sulfur, red eyes that apparently give people nausea… The usual city life. There are some other people who claimed to see, uh, giant hairy people." His gaze darted toward Fisk.

And not a moment too soon, apparently, because he had finally pounded and caught the blackbird that he had been stalking. He jumped up in near-silence, catching the bird in two hands as it started to take off, and landed in a graceful crouch. It was sort of funny, but the movements almost reminded Ben of Rook.

He was prepared for Fisk to eat it, already grimacing in disgust, but was surprised when he turned and offered the catch to Ben instead. Fisk mumbled something, seeming excited as he gestured again for Ben to take it. The bird chirped in agitation, unable to flap its wings with Fisk holding it, but didn't seem to be in pain.

"Uh…" Ben looked over at Zak. "Am I supposed to… take the bird?"

The grin on his face didn't help — clearly, Zak was enjoying Ben's uncertainty. "Yeah, kind of. He wants you to eat it." He pointed to his mouth. "Like I said, he's a big fan! We both are. It's his way of saying that he appreciates you."

"Oh. Thanks, but I'm a, ah, vegetarian. Yeah." He took the blackbird from Fisk anyway, cupping it in his hands. The squirming was freaking Ben out a little, but he waited until it calmed down some to open his fingers and let the bird fly away. Other than some ruffled feathers, it seemed alright. Fisk looked disheartened, muttering under his breath. Ben smiled in an attempt to cheer him up. "Hey, it's okay. I still appreciate it. Next time I've got a pen, I'll give you an autograph or something, yeah?"

A part of Ben still felt ridiculous when he offered autographs, having only been famous for a year, but it was good enough for Fisk. He perked up and nodded enthusiastically, turning to say something to Zak. Whatever it was made the boy laugh, though that was where the festivities stopped.

Rook cleared his throat. "So? Do the eye-witness testimonies line up with the description of the chupacabra?"

Either not noticing the hostility or not caring, Zak nodded with a smile still on his face. "Yeah, some of them. Chupacabras are more lizard-like than big and hairy, but they aren't the only cryptid that's gone missing on us recently so it seems pretty likely. Plus, that description is their trademark. The smell of sulfur and red eyes that make you nauseous are hard to forget."

"Great," Ben said. "I mean, not for the victims, obviously, but for us. If we know where Animo is getting these cryptids from, then we can set a trap and—"

"Wait, hold on. Uh, please," Zak added as an afterthought, apologetic as he cut Ben off. "Animo? You mean _Dr_. Animo, right? The guy who experiments on animals for fun. _He's_ the one behind this?"

Ben shared a glance with Rook, both of them equally confused for once, before answering Zak. "Probably. We think so, anyway. He broke out of jail a few weeks ago, which was when the weird animal sightings started up around Bellwood, so it seemed like a good bet to make him the primary suspect." He frowned. "How do you know about Animo?"

For the first time, Zak seemed unsure. He froze up like he hadn't been expecting to have to answer that. Even Fisk suddenly became enamored with the crates around, brushing the dust off one of them as though trying to clean it. "I, um… my family studies cryptids," he settled on finally, relaxing as he met Ben's gaze. "Yeah. He's sick, always doing experiments that are a violation of animal cruelty laws. We've worked in the past to keep him as far away from endangered cryptids as we can." He shook his head and smiled wearily. "Guess we didn't do a very good job."

He didn't even need to turn to know what expression Rook was making, but Ben ignored it. Sure, his partner would insist that Zak's behavior was "suspicious," but he was an animal-lover talking about cruel experimentation — of course he was going to be a little shaky. Plus, Ben couldn't think of any other way that the kid of two scientists could have heard of Dr. Animo, so he shrugged it off.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up," Ben said, trying to be cheerful. "We'll get him back in a cell where he belongs. Do you think you could give us the locations of some of those cryptids you've tagged? Me and Rook can go check them out, lie in wait for Animo, and—"

"No!" Zak cut him off at the same time that Fisk began rapidly shaking his head, both of them looking equally as distraught by the idea… and immediately as sheepish. "I, uh, I mean…" Zak licked his lips nervously. "Look, cryptids are secret for a reason. My parents would kill me if I gave you these locations, even if it was for stopping someone like Animo. I was already pushing it by showing you those maps on my Cryptidpedia."

Well, that made sense. Ben figured that if cryptids weren't a secret, he would probably know a lot more about them. All that he _did_ know was pretty basic conspiracy-level stuff that he saw on TV. He could see the logic behind the secrecy. Rare animals were always hunted, and there was no reason to give freaks like Animo any more ammunition.

"I don't think I'm going to get any awards for bringing two civilians into a fight with Animo." Ben pointed at Zak and Fisk both. If their parents were scientists, what were the odds of either of them knowing how to fight?

Saying that only seemed to excite the two of them, though. "I know we won't be as good at it as you are," Zak assured him, "but I've been learning to fight since I was ten and Fisk is a natural! We can handle ourselves. It's not like Animo is that tough." He faltered. "Or, uh, so I've heard."

The thought made Ben smirk, eyebrow arched. "Fair enough," he conceded. "Can you take us there if we, like, blindfold ourselves for the trip there?"

As soon as he said it, Rook was again tugging at Ben's elbow. That time, he didn't wait to gain his partner's attention, he simply dragged Ben a few feet to the side with a scowl.

"That is most foolhardy," Rook whisper-hissed, looking unimpressed. "Willingly blindfold yourself for someone you meet a mere ten minutes ago? Ben, if he is working for Animo, you are _giving_ yourself to him. It is not even an original or clever set-up."

Ben rolled his eyes, brushing Rook's hand off of his arm pointedly. "Dude. It's fine. I keep telling you, I know Animo and he doesn't go for this subtle stuff. These guys are offering genuine help and we need it. If I thought that this was a trap, do you think I would really be dumb enough to walk right into it?"

That earned a deeper scowl from Rook. "Should I list the many times that you have?"

Even though he gave a good-naturedly smirk, the disagreement was settled as soon as Ben turned back to Zak. As insensed as his partner was, Rook knew that Ben could and would go without him if he had to, and he wasn't stupid enough to think that he could forcibly stop Ben or stubborn enough to insist that Ben went on his own. What were partners for, right?

"That could work," Zak said eagerly as if he hadn't heard their entire conversation. It was nice of him to pretend that he hadn't listened to any of it. "Besides, if it means anything, I wanna get a piece of that, too. It's kind of personal with Animo, you know?"

And Ben did know, which was sort of why he didn't want Zak to get involved. He knew _exactly_ how fights could go when they were too personal. But the way that he saw it, Zak and Fisk could probably handle any cryptids nearby while Ben and Rook worked on bringing in Animo. Plus, he didn't really have a choice. The locations were supposed to be private, for scientific purposes only, so as inconvenient as it was, Ben didn't have any other leads and he should be grateful that Zak was a fan and willing to share at all.

He sighed, giving his best smile. "Yeah, I do. So, care to lead the way?"

Zak didn't need to answer — his grin said enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually don't write a loose third-person structure (I like to pick one or two characters and stick with that) but for this fic, get used to seeing changing P.O.V. It is, after all, a fix-it for an episode that aired on TV. The villain-centric P.O.V.s will probably be shorter though, like the prologue was. But in general, expect about 5,000 words or so per chapter. I'm going to try and restrain myself with this fic and not go crazy with the word count.


	3. Questions

What should have been an easy reconnaissance mission had quickly been sidetracked and Zak couldn't be happier. He was biting back a smile as he adjusted a blindfold onto Ben Tennyson. _The_ Ben 10, sitting on the Fiskertrike and letting Zak tie bandages around his eyes. They were supposed to be for first aid in case they came across an injured cryptid while working, but he was sure that his parents would learn to forgive him for misusing them.

He let out a shaky breath as he finished the knot, shooting Fisk a grin. Zak's brother ordinarily might have tried the lecturing, " _we should tell mom and dad"_ routine, but Fisk was almost as big a fan of Ben 10 as Zak was. They shared ecstatic looks. Had Ben not been within hearing range, Zak would have squealed. He was going on a mission with his idol! He really hoped that Ben ended up punching something. It would be so cool if he used Four Arms, or Big Chill, or Wildmutt. Seeing any of his aliens in action would make Zak's entire year _perfect_.

Seated behind Ben on the trike, Rook sighed. "Are we finally ready to continue?" He asked dryly. He hadn't been too happy about the blindfold idea, which Zak didn't blame him for.

It was kind of funny seeing him interact with Ben, actually. On the news, Rook usually took more of a background role, or he was in a good mood and joking with Ben, but his attitude was very different on missions. Very no-nonsense and to the point. It reminded Zak of his dad and he couldn't help but find it amusing.

"Yep!" Zak announced cheerfully. He still had his hands on the back of Ben's head and quickly dropped them with embarrassment. He didn't mean to linger, really, it was just hard to stay focused when he wanted to jump for joy. "Fisk will have us there in no time. Trust me."

The word "trust" made Rook grumble, earning himself an elbow in the gut from Ben. It probably hurt, considering how sturdy Rook's armor looked, but if it did then Ben gave no indication of it. "How fast can he pedal?" Ben asked eagerly. "This is such a cool-looking bike. Do you guys know where I can get one that's motorized? Asking for a friend."

Zak laughed. He got onto the trike behind Fisk, not because he wanted to sit near Ben or anything. That would be ridiculous. "No, they don't come with a motor. Mom and dad are really environmentally friendly, y'know, since they study animals closely and all. This bike is powered like a normal one, except that Fisk can pedal twice as fast as a human. The biggest population of chupacabras is about thirty miles from here so that's where we'll go. It'll be a little less than an hour ride."

Of course, Rook scoffed — loudly. "This is ridiculous!" He fumed. Though, Zak couldn't help but notice, he didn't take his blindfold off. "With the Proto-TRUK, we could be there in a fraction of the time. How is this necessary? We are trustworthy individuals. We are Plumbers, after all!"

Even though Zak knew what the Plumbers were — because _of course_ he did, they were linked all over the Ben 10 fan wiki — he couldn't help but smirk. "Really? How does fixing toilets make you trustworthy?"

Somehow, Rook was managing to turn red even with all of his fur. Ben just chuckled. "Oh, relax, Rook! Who doesn't like bike rides through the forest at night? This is our only lead, anyway. I mean, unless you want to trust these guys with driving the Proto-TRUK?"

To that, Rook said nothing. Zak had to muffle his laughter in Fisk's fur, though his brother wasn't nearly as good at keeping himself from chuckling.

"Alright, let's go, Fisk!" Zak encouraged. He latched onto the bike for their initial takeoff, laughing loudly as they shot forward. Fisk wasn't one for staring off carefully. At least, not when their parents weren't looking, anyway.

At the back of the trike, Rook almost fell off. Zak twisted around to make sure that he was okay, seeing Ben grinning and pulling his partner up-right again through peels of laughter. Watching them, Zak couldn't help but join in. A part of him was still reeling from it. He was tracking down a criminal with _Ben 10_. It was unbelievable. It felt like there wasn't a time that Zak _hadn't_ been a fan, even though he knew that it had only been about a year.

They cut though trees and shrubs, Fisk expertly avoiding the paths that would whip foliage into the faces of their passengers. After years of carting around the whole Saturday family on the Fiskertrike, he was something of a master at keeping everyone relatively clean and free of scratches. Zak kept hold of the Cryptidpedia, glancing at the GPS occasionally to make sure that they were going in the right direction. It was mostly a straight line, so he wasn't that worried about having to give directions. Fisk knew how to navigate through trees.

"You do this stuff often?" Ben leaned forward so that he didn't have to shout against the rushing wind. Maybe it was because Zak was already grinning, but he could tell without having to look that Ben was, too. "The fieldwork, I mean. I didn't think that science was a lot of fun!"

Zak shook his head. It was a good thing that Ben couldn't get a good look at his face because his smile refused to leave. "No, it's usually a lot of paperwork for my parents, but they don't make me stick around for that! I just get the fun parts." Not that he couldn't do the paperwork anyway, but why would he want to? Helping other cryptids with his bare hands was so much more holistic.

That made Ben laugh and Zak felt a surge of pride in his chest. He hadn't embarrassed himself too badly yet. As far as meeting celebrities went, this was one of his better attempts. "Man, I hear that! Rook does most of the paperwork for us, since we're partners, and I honestly can't thank him enough. I don't know if I'd survive having to do it all myself." Over the rushing wind, Zak faintly heard Rook mutter something. Fisk probably did too, but Ben continued blissfully unaware. "Tell me more about chupacabras! I've never seen a cryptid in real life before."

Usually, Zak would have to pull out his Cryptidpedia for a question like that, but his parents had had him brush up on his chupacabra knowledge before letting him be unsupervised during their recon mission. He was surprised they let him be alone with Fisk in the field at all. They had been so overbearing and protective since…

Shaking the thought away, Zak scraped together enough trivia to answer Ben's question. "In Spanish, its name means "the goatsucker," because of its taste for livestock. People have reported it eating chickens, goats… uh, some pets. It's been seen mostly in Mexico and Puerto Rico, sometimes in the U.S. There are a lot of subspecies of chupacabra, but there are two common versions. There's the reptilian kind — which is the true chupacabra — and a dog-like kind." He paused. "Oh, and the kind that lives around here is the reptilian kind. Guess you'll probably need to know that."

Ben made a noise of interest. It was hard for Zak to hide how excited he was. When was the last time he got to talk to someone outside of his family about cryptids, let alone someone as cool as _Ben Tennyson_? "What do they look like?" He asked, touching his blindfold. "I mean, you probably have a picture on your handheld, but you can just describe it and I'll picture the rest."

"Sure. Just give me a minute," Zak agreed. He leaned forward and reached around Fisk to hold up the CP for his brother to see, making sure he got a good idea of where the GPS wanted them to head before slouching back into his seat and flicking through images on the chupacabra entry. When he found a good one, he started listing off characteristics. "It has bright colored spines that run along its back from the top of its head to the base of its spine. It's got short arms and long feet, so it's a fast runner, and there are three claws on each appendage. It doesn't have ears or a nose, but there are holes there that function the same. It has huge eyes — bright red and take up half its face. It's got a mouth, duh, with a really long tongue and fangs and it doesn't have any lips. The males can get five feet tall, but the females are closer to four feet. Their fur is usually grey, but sometimes it comes in tan or white, and the older a chupacabra is, the more dark spots its fur will have." Zak grimaced at the picture he was looking at. No one had ever accused a chupacabra of being pleasant to look at. "How's that mental image coming along?"

Evidently, Ben agreed with him, because he shuddered. "Ugh, nasty. I'm not looking forward to tangling with those things."

Zak laughed. He switched his Cryptidpedia back to the GPS. It was still another twenty-or-so minutes to their destination, depending on how fast Fisk wanted to pedal. "Don't worry about fighting them. Me and Fisk have handled worse than chupacabras." A lot worse, but Ben didn't need those sorts of details.

"What are their weaknesses?" Rook spoke up suddenly. "In case we find ourselves needing to fight them off, what should we do?"

Weaknesses? Zak was a bit taken aback by the way that question was worded. Chupacabras were animals, not video game characters with fighting stats and weak to specific combos. He thought of that impressive-looking gun on Rook's shoulder and his expression tightened. It was a good thing that his passengers were wearing blindfolds.

"Oh, uh… you know, they don't like fire. Or loud noises. And they don't have a lot of reach." Zak wracked his brain for something useful in a fight. He hadn't ever fought a chupacabra so he couldn't draw from experience. "They're loners, mostly. If you got a bunch of them together, they'd probably be more focused on fighting each other than you. Territorial animals get like that. But, seriously, don't worry about fighting them," he insisted. "Cryptids are our specialty. If they get violent, you guys don't need to get involved."

It seemed like Rook wanted to say something — maybe protest Zak telling him what to do — but he didn't get the chance. Suddenly, the CP started flashing a red warning message, letting out a shrill alarm.

The surprise was enough that Fisk almost stopped the trike. He didn't, thankfully, but demanded loudly, " _Watsapenin?_ "

"I don't know!" Zak answered, anxiously tapping on the screen. He hadn't seen an alert like this one before. All it said was, _**"SIGNAL INTERRUPTED: EMERGENCY NOTICE."**_ He clicked the option for more details, reading through it as fast as he could.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Ben asked over his shoulder, echoing Fisk's question.

Zak elected not to respond. He picked out the important parts of the warning and his eyes went wide in alarm. "One of the chips…" He muttered. Then, louder, "There's an attack right now! We just lost the signal on two chupacabras!"

The trike lurched as Fisk pedalled harder than before, but they both knew there was no use. They were still too far away to make it in time to stop whoever it was — most likely that scumbag, Dr. Animo — from making off with cryptids that were just trying to peacefully live in the wild. He had to clench his jaw in frustration, teeth aching from the pressure. Zak hated feeling pathetic. Cryptids were like another piece of himself, and to know that he was _useless_ when they needed help, to know that he couldn't do _anything_ to save them—!

"Sorry about this!" Ben shouted into Zak's ear. Before he could ask what the apology was for, Ben ripped his blindfold off and, a split-second after, there was a flash of green light.

There was a fraction of an instant where Zak _felt_ it. Against his back, Ben's hands grew thinner and longer, his joints snapping and shrinking to fit closer to his body. He was taller, his spine curved, and there was no warmth from the body pressed against him. The very _alien_ body, Zak realized with a start. He was too taken aback to notice that Ben had grabbed the Cryptidpedia from his hands until it was long gone.

"Hey—!" Zak whirled around to protest, but that was as far as he got. His jaw dropped. It was one thing to see blurry phone camera footage of one of Ben Tennyson's aliens in action and it was another thing entirely to see an actual extraterrestrial in person.

For the split second that Ben was sitting there, Zak recognized his form as the one he called XLR8 (or Accelerate, depending on who you asked, but Zak liked the shorter variation better). His skin was made of fine scales, a vivid blue and black that would be impossible to get from animals on Earth. Two beady eyes stared at Zak but he couldn't tell what sort of expression Ben was making. The CP was clutched in one of his hands, held carefully between three pincers, yet Zak didn't even think about reaching for it. He felt like he was going to pass out. Hopefully Fisk would catch him when he did.

" _Hold on! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"_ Ben announced in an entirely different voice. A visor snapped down over his reptilian face and he jumped off of the trike.

Reflectively, Zak reached to grab him, and was saved from sending himself over the side of the trike when Rook took hold of his forearm. Apparently, he had lost his blindfold too, and was staring at Zak, expression surprisingly calm given their current situation. "You might want to hold on to something," he suggested as he let go of Zak. Rook grabbed the trike seat beneath him in a death grip. "Ben does not give warnings lightly."

Even as Zak opened his mouth to ask what Rook was talking about, he got his answer in the form of the trike suddenly lurching forward. Fisk yowled and yanked his feet off the pedals as they began to blur, moving so fast that it looked like they weren't moving at all. The abrupt change in speed sent Zak backward, knocking his head against Rook's knee. He swallowed a shout and, again, was saved from falling off of the trike, but not by Rook. Instead, Fisk twisted around and knotted a hand in Zak's shirt, pulling him upright. And his parents had thought that a skin-tight body suit like theirs would be safer.

Zak grabbed Fisk by the wrist in return and smiled gratefully. "Thanks," he muttered. He wrapped his arms around Fisk's waist and leaned into him, using his brother to shield him from the worst of the biting wind and any branches that might be in their way. They were going so fast that the surrounding forest was little more than a smear of greens and browns. Zak was starting to feel light headed, his body tensing against the pressure. How fast could Ben run? They had to be going several hundred miles an hour.

Their stop was as jarring as the speed increase had been. To his credit, Ben did try to make it gradual, but they were in a bit of a hurry. It took maybe ten seconds to reach a stop and the whiplash was so bad that Zak was surprised he hadn't snapped his neck. From the way Rook was muttering — some language that Zak didn't know but what sounded an awful lot like cursing — and the series of growled complaints that Fisk made, he wasn't the only one.

He let go of Fisk and willingly toppled over the side of the trike. The forest floor wasn't very soft, but being on solid ground was doing wonders. Zak could almost feel his legs again and he didn't feel like throwing up or passing out anymore. For a while, he had been worried that he would end up doing both.

A shadow fell over him and Zak squinted up at Ben's jagged alien silhouette. There was a flash of green light and, when Zak could see again, it was just Ben standing above him. "You alright?" He asked, half-joking and half-concerned. "Sorry about that. The first time with XLR8 isn't easy on anyone. Just be thankful I didn't go my full speed." He reached out his left hand to help Zak to his feet, the Omnitrix glinting innocently on his wrist.

Zak took his outstretched hand with a smile. "Dude," he muttered, "that is the _coolest_ thing I've ever seen in my life." And that really was saying _a lot_.

That got a half-smile from Ben. He pulled Zak to his feet, brushing some of the dirt off the back of his shirt. "Still, sorry about the rough landing. And for stealing your GPS." He handed the Cryptidpedia back to Zak. "I just thought I could get here faster than Fisk could. Anyway, let's go. The signal was dropped just over there." He pointed to the north, through the darkened trees.

"It will be difficult to fight in a forest past sundown," Rook said as he carefully dismounted from the trike. He stretched his legs out and sighed. To Zak, he said, "Are you sure that you still want to join us?" By his tone, Rook was really hoping for the answer to be _"no."_

"Oh. Um…" Zak shared a look with Fisk. He didn't know how to explain to them that he could see perfectly fine in the dark in a way that wouldn't raise further questions. Humans weren't supposed to be able to do that. "It's fine," he said finally. "I'm used to working with cryptids in the dark. Plus, Fisk can be my eyes. We should hurry, though. Chupacabras get more active at night."

"Yeah, Rook," Ben agreed, clapping his partner on the back. There was a grin on his face. "C'mon. I wanna see how far Animo will fly when Humungosaur hits him with a tree." He didn't wait for Rook's response. Ben took off into the tree line toward their target, quickly out of sight.

"Ben! What have we discussed about running headlong into potential traps?" Rook shouted, darting after Ben without hesitation.

There was a pause. Fisk plucked a branch out of Zak's hair and stared down at him quizzically. After a moment of thought, he asked, _"Rugongtelim?"_

It was tempting, but… Zak sighed. "No, I can't. We already agreed not to mention any of this to Mom and Dad. We're not going to start telling strangers." He bit his lip anxiously. "Even if one of those strangers _is_ Ben Tennyson."

He wasn't even sure where he would begin, or if he could tell anyone if he wanted to. Zak had kept it a secret for so long. It was kind of a big deal to just drop on someone from out of nowhere. Besides, he didn't think that it would matter. He was doing a quick mission with Ben 10, that was all. They were going to save the chupacabras and whatever other cryptids were involved, then Animo was going behind bars again. Nice and simple.

Fisk nodded, patting Zak on the shoulder consolingly. " _Urmkinthrgtchos,"_ he said, offering his hand. Zak smiled and took it, letting himself be pulled up onto Fisk's back. Seeing in the dark was one thing, but moving quickly though the underbrush was another entirely and Fisk had a lot more experience with it. Zak may have grown in the last few years, but his brother could still manhandle him like a sack of flour.

Moving quickly, Fisk caught up with Ben and Rook in no time. To be fair, that was partly because they had stopped running. They almost darted by the two completely, and might have if Fisk hadn't spotted the glow of the Omnitrix scattered through out the underbrush.

"What are you—?" Zak started, one eyebrow arched in confusion as he looked down at them. He was quickly shushed.

When Fisk crouched down to be at their level, Zak pulled his arms back from where they had been around Fisk's neck and took the opportunity to slide off. Both of them immediately fell into stealth mode, low to the ground and eyes never staying still for too long.

"Do you smell anything?" Ben asked, barely louder than a whisper next to Zak's ear. He was surprisingly subtle when he was sneaking, but it was difficult to catch Zak off-guard.

For a moment, he thought it was an odd question. Then Zak sniffed the air and his expression twisted into a grimace. At his side, Fisk grumbled unhappily and muttered what Zak had been thinking. " _Slfr."_

Zak nodded in agreement. "Sulfur," he echoed. "The chupacabras must be close."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the trees around them shook. Zak startled, reaching for his weapon clipped to his belt, but he stopped mid-motion. The figure lumbering at them through the trees wasn't a chupacabra at all. Shocked, he froze, jaw dropped.

Out of the foliage came a hulking figure nearly eight feet tall, all rippling muscles and fast reflexes. He held a squirming web bundle over one shoulder. When he turned to look at the four of them, letting out an unintelligent grunt, the light of the moon glinted off of his monocle. It had been years since Zak last saw him, but he recoiled instinctively, as though burned.

As soon as he remembered how to move, Zak ducked behind a tree, but he knew that it was too late. He had already been spotted, if the furious yelling meant anything.

"Munya," he breathed. "Oh, God, what is he doing here?"

After what happened to Argost the last time Zak had seen him, his family hadn't seen or heard anything about Munya. He was Argost's right-hand man, much more a follower than a leader, so what was he doing alone in the middle of an unremarkable forest in California? There was no way _Munya_ was the one behind the chupacabra kidnapping scheme. He simply didn't possess the ability to do anything on his own. But if that wasn't it, then what was he doing? He couldn't be working for Dr. Animo, could he? There was nothing for Munya to gain from that!

Zak was yanked out of his thoughts, literally, when Fisk grabbed him by the front of his shirt and jerked him forward right as one of Munya's webs splattered against the tree where Zak's chest had been. He automatically clutched Fisk in return as they ducked and rolled into the landing, both of them coming back up to their feet in sync.

"I'm calling Mom and Dad!" Zak announced, grabbing his Cryptidpedia. "Oh, man, they are going to _kill_ me for this. I'm never going to be let out of their sight again…!"

He startled, gasping reflexively when Fisk snatched a web out of the air that had been aimed at Zak's CP. His brother growled in frustration. _"Ayatntonhnwrenaigt!"_ Fisk lectured without looking at Zak. Likely, he didn't want to risk turning away from Munya.

Before Zak could respond, another shape darted out of the foliage, much smaller and more agile than Munya. Surprised, Zak stared uncomprehendingly at what appeared to be a blue chimpanzee. With four arms. And four eyes. He spotted the green glow of the Omnitrix on the monkey's chest and his identity clicked. One of his more obscure aliens! Footage of this one was rare, but Zak was mostly sure that Ben called it Spidermonkey.

 _"Why don't you worry less about your parents killing you,"_ Ben chittered, _"and focus more on the spidery-guy with muscles as big as my whole body who's trying to seriously finish the job! Who is this guy anyway?"_

From out of nowhere, Rook dropped out of the blackness and to the ground, leveled in a crouch with his alien-looking gun in hand. He fired off a few bursts of laser fire at Munya before the hulking man shot a web at him, forcing Rook to dodge. He rolled with a grunt, popping up next to Ben. "I would also like to know why he seems to be targeting Zak," he added.

Wait, what?

Zak hadn't noticed any favoritism but, right as he was about to say as much, Fisk shouted in alarm. Responding automatically, Zak barely managed to duck before a tree was hurled in his direction. He felt it scrape by his hair and then go tumbling into the underbrush with a deafening crack.

Shocked, he looked back toward Munya, making eye contact with the man. He had set down his chupacabra bundle to fight, but that wasn't what had Zak locking up. It was the expression on Munya's face, the unbridled rage as he looked at Zak. Regardless of what his plan was or who he was working for, he suddenly knew what Munya wanted: to make Zak _hurt_.

As soon as the thought occurred to him, Munya growled, as though agreeing. He sprinted forward, crushing the trees in his way and sending fragmented bits of bark flying. He came right for Zak, hands balled into fists. Preparing to dodge, Zak didn't notice Ben moving until a small blue blur slammed into Munya's chest, stopping him in his tracks and sending him stumbling back.

 _"We can worry about the details later!"_ He shouted at Rook over his shoulder. Then, to Zak, _"You see what you can do about getting that chupacabra free. We can handle Big Ugly here."_

A part of Zak wanted to protest. His free hand went to the Claw attached to his belt, still gripping the CP tight with the other. He could fight. He and Fisk could handle Munya, probably, but… He wouldn't know where to begin explaining that to Ben and they already had plenty to answer for just because Munya was there. And no matter how cool he was, no matter how much Zak idolized him, _no one_ could know, and that umbrella term included Ben.

He nodded once, resolute. "Got it. Come on, Fisk!" Zak grabbed his brother by the forearm and yanked him out of the way, running over the fallen and broken trees to get to where Munya had dropped the chupacabra.

Behind them, Munya was roaring in protest, but Ben and Rook knew what they were doing. Zak didn't risk a glance behind him and Munya didn't try to follow them.

He dropped to his knees in the dirt next to the chupacabra, entangled in webs and still squirming, making things worse on itself. Zak tossed the Cryptidpedia at Fisk without aiming, knowing he would catch it. "Call Mom and Dad," he said as he took his Claw from its holster. "They should know about this. They thought Munya was dead by now."

Fisk grumbled, but he wasn't upset. He could see how stressed Zak was, determined though he was to not let it show. He typed their parents' emergency contact into the dial pad, looking between the screen, the fight, and Zak struggling with the webbing. Though Fisk probably could have done that faster, there was no denying that Zak had a special connection with cryptids. He was muttering something under his breath, shushing softly and moving slowly, and the feral chupacabra had already started calming down.

The call was sent out and Drew Saturday answered almost immediately. Her face lit up the screen, expression pulled back into a tight frown. _"Boys, did something go wrong? We're supposed to reconvene in a half hour."_

Much as she loved him, Fisk knew that his mom had trouble understanding him sometimes. No one really knew him like Zak did, though. He did his best to keep it simple. _"Wdlowedthltsgnl. Mnysthneatkngcrtds!"_

Drew's eyes widened in alarm, but quickly smoothed out as she took a deep, calming breath. _"Alright, I have your location. I'm bringing the airship there. I'll let Doc know so he can bring the Griffon. Is Zak alright?"_ There was a thread of concern there, the anxious shift of her features that Drew tried so hard to tap down. It had been years, but Fisk didn't think she would ever be able to forget what had almost happened that day.

"Fine, mom!" Zak called from the ground. He didn't look up. His hands were covered in webbing and it was going to take ages to clear all the gunk out of the Claw, but the chupacabra had its head free and it had gotten a lot easier since it stopped struggling. "We think Dr. Animo is involved in this, too. Oh, and we found some backup that you'll probably want to meet!"

 _"What?"_ Drew muttered something under her breath that was probably a curse. _"How is Dr. Animo involved with Munya?"_

 _"Cnujthrypndgthr?"_ Fisk interrupted, voice rising with impatience.

Drew collected herself and nodded. _"I'm on my way, boys. Five minutes, tops."_ She hung up the call and Fisk couldn't help but snort. "Five minutes," as if she wouldn't be breaking the throttle to get there in less than one.

The webbing still sticking to its back legs, the chupacabra managed to right itself. It gnawed on its leg until the webs fell off in sticky, saliva-coated clumps. Its red eyes caught the light of the moon, making it look like they glowed. The smell of sulfur was overpowering. Fisk muttered unhappily and took a step back, looking away.

Alone, with no audience, Zak gave the chupacabra a private smile. Their eyes locked and, moving slowly so as to not startle it, Zak set a hand on its chest, feeling the rapid heartbeat beneath layers of scales and thin hairs. He said nothing. Zak tilted his head and it almost looked like his eyes flashed. Then the moment was over. He and the chupacabra had reached an understanding. It nudged Zak's hand affectionately with its head, then he stood and backed away. The chupacabra skittered into the treeline, gone in a few seconds.

The peacefulness was shattered when something slammed into a fallen tree log. Zak was already running over before there was a flash of green light, then it faded and he was crouching down next to Ben, not Spidermonkey. Fisk was behind him, leaning over them both with concerned growls.

"Are you alright?" Zak asked reflexively. He grabbed Ben by the elbow to help him sit up, leaning him against the log for support.

There was a weak groan as Ben rubbed the back of his head. He blinked up at Zak and cracked a smile. "Not my best landing. He just got a lucky hit in, that's all." Ben waved Zak's hand away and sat up straighter, returning his attention to the Omnitrix for his next alien.

A cry of " _Look out!"_ stopped Ben mid-motion. Zak recognized it as Rook's voice a second too late. Thundering footsteps caused him to twist around, just in time to see Fisk get sent flying when Munya slammed a fist into his gut.

" _Fisk_!" Zak shouted after him. He was pushed to the ground when Ben tackled him, pulling Zak against him so they could roll smoothly out of the way. Munya's foot came down on the tree trunk where they had been sitting, snapping it like a pencil.

"Get back!" Ben ordered. It took Zak a moment to realize that Ben was talking to him, not Munya. Hands gripped his shoulders, dragging him to his feet as Ben rose and then pushing him back, his view of Munya partly obscured by the back of Ben's head. "For some reason, this guy's out for blood, and I think it's yours. You need to find Fisk and get somewhere safe! Me and Rook can handle this."

Zak's expression hardened. He gripped the Claw, sticky with webbing though it was, and brandished it like a proper weapon. "No way," he said firmly. "This is my fight. I'm not running."

He was distracted by the incredulous look that Ben shot him over his shoulder, so much so that Zak didn't notice anything was wrong until he felt himself being lurched forward. His grip on the Claw tightened as it threatened to slip from his fingers. Munya was growling, holding on end of a long strand of webbing while the other was wrapped around the Claw like a vice. Ben's arms wrapped around his midsection, a chant of curses coming from his lips as he dug his heels into the dirt and clutched Zak as tightly as he could. It felt like Munya was going to wrench his arms out of their sockets. They were losing ground fast.

"Rook!" Ben screamed his partner's name. "A little help would be great!"

And, miraculously, that worked. Whatever Munya had done to get around Rook the first time, barely a few seconds had passed and, covered in mud and dead leaves but still clutching his weapon, Rook burst from between the trees. A neat shot of his laser and the webbing was snapped, sending Zak and Ben tumbling backward and to the ground as Munya reeled.

Immediately, Ben was on his feet again. Zak took a little longer, frantically making sure that the Claw hadn't been broken in the tug-o'-war. He couldn't risk losing it. Sometimes, it was the only thing that kept him in control.

Hand on the Omnitrix, Ben looked over his shoulder to tell Zak something and never got the chance. The sound of engines roaring filled the forest and the sky lit up bright enough to make Zak's eyes water. The Saturday family airship, in all of its glory, had stopped above them and his mom had turned on the flood lights.

He had been expecting his mom to join the fight and probably be more helpful than Zak was, explaining Munya's strengths and weaknesses like an encyclopedia so that Ben and Rook would have a better understanding of what they were going up against. What he hadn't expected was, after rubbing the tears from his eyes and adjusting, to see that Munya had vanished without a trace.

There was grumbling from the tree next to him, then Fisk slinked down the trunk, looking dazed. He had leaves stuck to his fur and twigs embedded in the tangles. Relieved, Zak threw his arms around his brother. "Oh, Fisk, you're alright!" He stayed where he was, but lifted his head to speak. "Did you hit your head? You should let dad get a look at it."

A polite cough got Zak's attention and, still clinging to Fisk, he turned his head to look at Ben and Rook. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had coughed, if the unimpressed expression on Rook's face was an indication.

"So," Ben said before his partner could speak, "I'm guessing you called in the cavalry. I'm hoping that they'll be able to help us with this case, right? It just got a lot more interesting."

Zak smiled faintly. "My parents, yeah. They'll definitely help." His smile slipped. "I mean, once they get done yelling at me."


	4. Teenagers

"What were you thinking, Zak?" The tall woman with white hair — who had introduced herself as "Drew Saturday" — demanded.

Upon boarding the airship, Zak and Fisk had been ushered into the medical hanger with Ben and Rook trailing along behind them. As soon as she'd had her son seated on one of the examination chairs, she was equal parts concerned and angry. Watching her reminded Ben a lot of his mom and he smiled to himself.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved in that fight until your dad or I was there," Drew continued. She wiped a small cut on Zak's arm with disinfectant and continued searching him for injuries. "Who knows what could have happened? We don't know who Munya is working for or what he was even doing there. That wasn't a fight you should have been in!"

Rook opened his mouth to say something and Ben elbowed him lightly. They could interrogate the Saturday family about that giant, muscled spider guy once everyone was out of first aid and calmed down.

"Your mother is right, Zak," added Doc Saturday. He was an intimidating man with a strong build. His right eye was white and clearly blind. Whatever the story behind it was, Ben was curious, but he wasn't going to ask. The man had only joined them in the hanger a few minutes ago and immediately taken to giving Fisk a physical. Neither of the boys looked very comfortable but tolerated the fussing. "We've been over this several times. You know the protocol for what you should do if there's any sign of a fight."

Zak rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. I'm supposed to notify you or mom and focus on getting away and finding somewhere to hide," he said unhappily. Then, perking up, "But we're fine! Right, Fisk?" He waved his mom's searching hands off of him and tugged his sleeve back down. Fisk gave a nod and a mumble of agreement, until Doc still him so that he could wrap the bandages around Fisk's concussion easier. "Munya had one of our chupacabras. I couldn't just let him get away with it! And besides, we had plenty of help." He nodded toward Ben and Rook, standing off to the side and watching patiently.

Having the focus shifted to him so suddenly made Ben stiffen, but just for a moment. He quickly relaxed and offered a loose wave. "Hey. Um, I'm sorry, ma'am. We weren't trying to get your sons involved in that fight."

Unable to help himself, Rook snorted. "In fact, I distinctly remember telling them both to stand back and allow us to handle it."

That got him a glare from Zak. "And _I_ remember saying that I can handle my own fights."

There was a light swat on the back of his head from Drew. "Alright, firstly," she said, waving her finger, "these are our guests. Have some manners, Zak. Don't be rude. Secondly, that was not _your_ fight. As far as your dad and I are concerned, there is no fight that should ever be yours. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes," Zak muttered. He crossed his arms and sank in on himself.

"Good." Drew nodded and set both hands on her hips, staring at him a moment longer before turning to Ben and Rook. Her expression softened with politeness as she walked over, offering her hand to Rook to shake first, then to Ben. "Sorry, we didn't get a chance to be properly introduced earlier. You two are…?"

Seeing as how Rook was still annoyed, Ben decided to take the lead. "I'm Ben Tennyson and this is my partner, Rook Blonko. We're agents with the Plumbers." He smiled good-naturedly. "I really hope you've heard of them because explaining will take a while."

Drew looked surprised for a moment, then she finally took notice of the Omnitrix on Ben's wrist. "I've heard of them, though I've never met an officer of the Plumbers. So you're Ben Tennyson? _The_ Ben Tennyson, wielder of the most powerful device in the universe, Savior of the Galaxy, Champion of Justice?"

Ben blinked. "Is that what they're calling me now?"

Doc and Drew shared a look and she smirked. "Oh, now this makes sense. Zak, sweetheart, why didn't you just say so?"

His face crinkled with confusion. "Say what now?" Zak asked.

"Well, if you'd just told me that you were fighting with Ben Tennyson from the beginning, I wouldn't have been so harsh." Drew chuckled as she walked back over to her son, ruffling Zak's hair. "I know how you can get when you're starstruck. Meeting your hero is a big deal!"

Like flipping a switch, Zak went from faintly annoyed to mortified. He shook his head rapidly, his face burning red. " _What_? No, I don't—! I am not _starstruck_!"

"I'm not so sure about that, Zak," Doc said with mock seriousness. He had finished with Fisk and was packing away the first aid supplies. "Isn't Ben Tennyson the young man who's posters you have plastered all over your room?"

"And didn't you rant for two hours about how undeserving the "smear campaign" against him by the media is?" Drew tapped her chin thoughtfully.

" _Ndumblisamnorlep,"_ Fisk added.

Zak shot his brother a weak glare. Any intimidation effect was lost by how red he had turned. "No, none of those things are true! I'm not a crazy superfan, I just—" He glanced at Ben. Their eyes met and Zak shrank down like he wanted to die, burying his face in his hands. "...I just admire his work," he mumbled.

Biting back a laugh, Ben covered his smile with his hand. He still wasn't completely used to the idea of having "super fans," but he had already been able to guess that within a minute of meeting Zak.

"Oh, we know, baby," Drew sighed. She planted a kiss on his head. "What are you going to do the next time you see Munya, or anyone else looking to fight?"

Though still upset, Zak didn't try to argue. He squirmed under his mom's stare. "Retreat and stay safe while I call you and dad, and don't get involved until you show up and give the okay," he recited in monotone.

"Exactly." Doc set a hand on Zak's shoulder and gave a squeeze. "I'm glad you boys are alright. But don't let this happen again."

Rook cleared his throat, barely holding back his impatience. Ben was impressed that he had managed to last as long as he had. "Excuse me. If I may, we have an important case to solve and an escaped convict to apprehend. If you are willing to swap information on this, perhaps we can help each other."

Hearing Rook willing to "swap information" was news to Ben, but whatever Zak knew, his parents were bound to be told eventually, so it wasn't that shocking for him. "We're investigating weird animal sightings all over Bellwood," Ben added, "and we're trying to track down Dr. Animo. He escaped prison a few weeks ago. It seems like you guys know a lot about what's happening and we could really use your help."

Doc walked around to them and set a hand on Drew's shoulder. He nodded. "Of course. We'd love to see Animo back behind bars. I'm not sure how useful our information can be, but we'll help however we can," he promised.

"Let's move to the bridge," Drew suggested. "We'll be able to access our data banks and pull up whatever you think might be useful in your investigation. For saving our boys, I think cooperating is the least we can do as thanks." She set her hand over Doc's and gave an affectionate squeeze before pulling away. They both started to the door, with Rook right behind.

Ben moved to follow, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned around, raising a questioning eyebrow at Zak. The door that let out of the infirmary swished closed, leaving Ben alone with Zak and Fisk.

"Okay," he said once the others were gone, "is something wrong?" Why else would Zak want to talk to him alone? Well, mostly alone, at least. "Is this about the fan club thing? Because that doesn't actually matter to me. Rook was a pretty huge fan of mine and now he's my partner. I'm sort of used to dealing with—"

"No, that's not it," Zak interrupted. He let go of Ben's hand, shuffling his feet nervously. He shot a glance at his brother and sighed. "It's just that… Look, can you do me a favor and _not_ tell my parents that Munya was targeting me? Please?"

The request got Ben off guard. He opened his mouth and then closed it. After a moment of thought, he settled on, "Why?"

"Think about it. If my parents are focusing on me, then they're not focusing on the mission. And the most important thing right now should be catching them both and putting them in jail, right? Plus…" Zak winced. "My parents worry so much about me already. I can handle myself. I don't want to give them another reason to crack down on what I'm allowed to do, okay? Mom's already threatened to sew a tracking device into my clothes."

They didn't have a lot of time until the others noticed they were gone. A minute, maybe. Fisk mumbled something that sounded like an encouragement, clasping his hands in a pleading gesture. Still, Ben hesitated. He knew what it was like to not want to worry his parents, but he had the Omnitrix. Zak was just a kid. Munya was a muscled brute that wanted him dead.

"Can you tell me why Munya was targeting you in the first place?" Ben asked. He crossed his arms, standing up straighter. He'd lost his carefree attitude and was measuring Zak up carefully.

Zak shared a look with Fisk. No words were spoken, but a conversation passed between their eyes. When Zak turned back to Ben, he sighed. "I can't. I'm sorry. You'll have to trust me."

It was quiet while Ben thought. "But you do know why he's after you, right?" He pressed.

A guilty wince, but Zak nodded. He managed a smile and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Y-Yeah. It's just some… uh, unfinished scientific business."

Personally, Ben was _very_ interested in hearing about where Zak had gotten messed up with someone like that and what he had done that was bad enough to earn himself a death sentence from the guy. He couldn't picture Munya wearing a lab coat, but what did "scientific business" even mean, exactly? As curious as he was, Zak had already decided not to tell him and Ben knew that he wasn't going to get anything more out of him. The best he could do was keep an eye out and put Munya in jail himself before he hurt Zak or anyone else.

Ben ran a hand through his hair and swallowed a sigh. "Alright, alright. Fine, I'll cover for your parents for you. But the next time you see Munya, you have to let me know," Ben said before Zak could get too excited. He cracked his knuckles for emphasis. "I'm not done with that guy yet. Just because he got lucky against Spidermonkey doesn't mean that I don't have dozens of other aliens ready to kick his mutated butt."

For a second, Zak looked surprised, then he snorted. "Wow, those fan forums were right. You really don't curse, do you?"

"Um…" Ben turned a faint red. "A lot of kids look up to me. I don't want to be a bad role model just because some mom with her camera out caught me saying fuck."

There was a burst of giddy laughter, then Ben found arms wrapped around his torso. He was surprised to find Zak hugging him. He was about an inch shorter than Ben, so it was a little awkward, but he couldn't be annoyed.

"Sorry," Zak reflexively. "Just— thanks, for agreeing not to tell. And for just being really cool in general. I was worried you were one of those celebrity assholes, but wow, you're _great_."

Thankfully, before Zak could continue with his nervous babbling and embarrass either of them further, they were both lifted off of the ground. Ben felt Fisk's arms around them, able to hold them high enough from the floor that Ben was left essentially dangling there. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Ben couldn't help but laugh. "Well, uh— it's just nice to be appreciated," he said.

Of course, that was the moment that the door to the infirmary slid open. Doc and Drew had panicked looks on their faces, which they quickly replaced with smiles. Not fast enough that Ben didn't notice their paranoia or the strained edges to their expressions. Rook was right behind them, though he mostly looked annoyed. It seemed like that would be a staple.

With a shout of surprise, Fisk dropped them both. Ben automatically grabbed Zak's shirt to keep himself from tumbling over. "Give a guy a little warning next time," he gasped. "I don't know how many more surprise hugs I can take."

"Might want to get used to that," Drew said lightly, a teasing grin on her face. "You're Zak's and Fiskerton's hero. The first time they heard of you, it was—"

" _Mom!_ " Zak was flushed from his neck to his hairline. "Can you _not_ tell that story?"

"If you are ready to stop kidding and begin some actual work on solving this case, then we can gladly skip storytime," Rook retorted. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked like he was going to burst a vein.

Unbothered, Ben walked over to him and patted Rook on the shoulder. "Jeez, dude, calm down. It's just Animo. You can drop the bad cop routine." He gave a polite smile to Doc and Drew. "Sorry about that. Rook gets really intense on assignments."

Personally, Rook took offense to that: he was _always_ really intense. But he said nothing. He couldn't explain, exactly, why he disliked Zak so much, but he didn't want to mouth off to his parents and lose their cooperation in the case. Whoever "Munya" was, he wasn't on any list of criminals known by the Plumbers. Rook had taken the liberty of comparing what he knew with Plumber and Earth criminal databases, but there had been no results. It couldn't be that Munya had come out of nowhere, though. He had to be in league with Animo, so he had to have a criminal past of some kind. The fact that Rook couldn't find it was putting him a little bit on edge.

And maybe he was annoyed just being in the same room as Zak. Not that he was going to admit to that.

"It's no trouble," Doc replied, though neither he nor his wife looked very pleased. He gestured to his boys to follow. "Come on. Let's all head to the bridge and see what we can work out from there."

There was silence as they walked down the narrow halls of the Saturday family airship. Well, mostly. Zak and Ben were talking animatedly about something that Rook wasn't listening to, with Fisk adding in and Zak translating for him. Rook was busy being impressed that they could afford an airship so massive and technologically advanced. It had to cost a small fortune. Where would scientists specializing in an unrecognized field like cryptozoology get that kind of money?

The bridge of the airship, as it turned out, was a huge upside-down glass dome that allowed whoever was piloting it a two-hundred-and-seventy degree view of the surroundings. A metal platform led to the center of the dome, where two pilot seats were situated. A set of stairs led down to the bottom of the dome, though Rook couldn't tell what was there from his current angle. His attention was on the giant flatscreen TV that hung on the far side of the dome, directly across from the automatic door. Doc and Drew took the pilot seats, on the right and left respectively. Instead of turning the airship's powerful engines on, Doc tapped the screen in front of him and pulled up what looked like case files on the TV in front of them.

"Here's everything we have on Munya," Doc announced. He opened a file that, as far as Rook could tell, held digital scans of newspaper articles organized by date. One of them near the end was opened and, next to him, Ben gasped.

"Oh, man, he was on _Weird World_?" Ben groaned."I knew that name was familiar! I used to love that show. Whatever happened to it?"

Maybe Ben didn't notice, but Rook had already been looking for something to take issue with, so he saw when Zak pursed his lips and turned away, crossing his arms. Fisk set a hand on his back, mumbling lowly. Rook didn't understand it and Zak didn't say anything in return. He didn't know what the cause of his troubled reaction was and that bothered Rook.

"This is what happened," Drew said matter-of-factly, "Munya worked on the TV show _Weird World_ and lived in the titular home with the show's host, V.V. Argost. There was a gas leak, a busted pipe somewhere. It started a chain reaction and there was an explosion. The house went up in flames. Nothing was left behind to recover, the damage was so bad." Her tone was clinical and detached, like she was reading from a textbook rather than describing a tragedy. Rook supposed that many scientists were removed like that.

"But what gave him those unusual abilities?" Rook pressed. "Normal humans do not have biceps as big as tree trunks, nor are they capable of spitting spider webs."

Doc closed the newspaper headline — titled simply " _Weird World Wrecked!_ " in bold lettering — and stood up, frowning thoughtfully. "I don't know. We never found out about that. For as long as I've known of him, Munya has always been able to mutate. My working theory is that it was an experiment with cryptid DNA gone wrong, but I always wanted to study him closer. In fact, I—" He glanced over at his wife and, seeing the glare that Drew was shooting his way, Doc quickly backtracked. "As I said, we don't know." He cleared his throat pointedly and lapsed into silence.

Rook arched an eyebrow. He knew that there were pieces of the story being left out, but he didn't need all of the details. All he wanted were the ones that related to the case.

"So you guys knew V.V. Argost?" Ben asked enthusiastically. "Were you on a first-name basis with him? Did you ever get to appear on his show? Were you guys how he knew so much about cryptids? What was—?"

"What was your relation to him like?" Rook cut in. He didn't know anything about the TV show they were talking about, but Ben could ask Zak about all of that later, when they had free time. As far as Rook was concerned, they were still working, and that meant that the conversation needed to stay on topic.

The hesitation before the Saturdays answered his question told Rook to take what they said with a grain of salt. "We work in a similar field," Drew said finally. "We've crossed paths with Argost a few times over the last decade or so and he often has Munya with him. But we were never close or anything more than acquaintances."

"How does any of this relate to Animo? I mean, I'm assuming he's involved with these two somewhere," Ben remarked. Maybe Rook was imagining it, but it seemed like Ben was very eager to keep changing the subject.

Surprisingly, the answer didn't come from Doc or Drew. It was Zak who cleared his throat and, still refusing to look anyone in the eye, said, "Argost studied cryptids, but he was never worried about doing it ethically. It makes sense that he would end up with someone like Animo. Both of them exploited animals just to get what they wanted. They've worked together in the past, but we never figured out what they were doing."

His tone was far too personal. Rook was seeing red flags from the entire family, but Zak, especially, was definitely hiding something. Didn't Ben see it? Or was it just that he didn't care?

"Perhaps next time," Rook retorted, "you should make sure that you get the proper authorities involved to hold an official investigation, rather than trying to handle it on your own and being disappointed by the lack of results."

Zak scowled, swinging around to glare at Rook. "Look, I don't know what you—"

He was cut off by a sharp cry of " _Zak!"_ from both of his parents. He immediately closed his mouth, sinking into himself unhappily. Rook turned away from him and back to the TV, pointedly ignoring Ben's questioning stare. He wasn't sure why Doc had pulled open his files. They were hardly clicking through any of them.

"What I want to know," said Drew with a sigh, "is what Munya is getting out of this. He's never worked for money, but what else can Animo offer him that he wants?"

Rook opened his mouth, fully prepared to inform both Saturday parents of the details behind their fight with Munya. He may have been kept busy, but Rook wasn't blind or stupid. He had seen Munya aiming for Zak, genuinely trying to kill the kid. It was another clue that told him the Saturdays weren't being honest when they described their relationship to Argost and Munya only as "acquaintances." As parents and for the sake of the investigation, Rook felt that they had the right to know.

Munya had wanted to kill Zak more than he had wanted to escape with the chupacabra.

The words never left Rook's mouth. "Well, where's Argost in all of this?" Ben asked in a rush. "Maybe he's the one pulling the strings and we're asking about the wrong guy."

"Argost is dead," said Zak, so toneless and so abrupt that it genuinely caught Rook off-guard. Even his parents look surprised. Zak looked Ben in the eyes though, and finished with, "He died in the explosion that destroyed Weird World. We don't need to think about him."

It was odd. Rook could have sworn that, when they met a few hours ago, Zak's eyes had been as dark as night. Focused intently on Ben, under the florescent lights of the airship, his irises almost looked like they were on fire: a burnt ombre that was impossible to mistake.

Doc cleared his throat pointedly, drawing attention back to him. "Uh, yes. It's like my son said. Unfortunately, Argost is no longer with us. He couldn't be involved. We'll have to look elsewhere for answers."

"Where does that leave us, though?" Rook asked. He couldn't help the bite of impatience behind his words. As far as he could tell, all they were doing was wasting time. "Are there any other leads to pursue? Animo has already been out of prison for weeks now. He could be doing untold damage right this very moment."

There was silence for a minute. Rook was tempted to leave. At that point, what could the Saturday family do for them, anyway? Sure, they were suspicious, but as long as they weren't doing anything illegal and it had no ties to Animo, what did Rook care if they wanted to keep some things to themselves? He wanted to have Animo in handcuffs weeks ago and Ben's seemingly unconcerned attitude wasn't helping him feel less tense.

"Well," Ben said slowly, "he was after a chupacabra and he didn't get it, so that means he's going to come back and try again. We just let him grab one, then we follow him back to his hideout. Kick some butt, slap some cuffs on Munya and Animo both, and it's done."

The TV was turned off and Doc stood up from the piloting chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "As a plan, it's overly simplistic and not very innovative… but a classic tailing strategy. We should get the airship into position near the chupacabra habitats so that we're ready the next time that the alarm goes off," he settled on.

Somehow, Rook was the only one to take issue with that. "Excuse me," he said, "but you are citizens. We cannot, as officers of the law, in good conscious allow you to—"

"I guess that means we'll be working together a little longer!" Zak said cheerfully, cutting right in front of Rook to grab Ben by the hand. "We should introduce you to the rest of the family. Well, Zon and Doyle are out, but you can still meet Komodo!"

Ben's face lit up. " _Please_ tell me you guys have a real komodo dragon. That's so cool!"

Fisk chattered enthusiastically, getting a laugh from Zak as the three of them move toward the door that led out of the bridge.

"Boys!" Drew called after them. "Don't go anywhere yet, we still have to—" Her command fell on deaf ears as the door swished closed behind them. She sighed, exasperated but not upset. "Teenagers," she said to herself.

Rook felt his eyebrow twitch and found himself agreeing. _Teenagers_.


	5. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you who haven't see The Secret Saturdays are going to be in for such a fucking plot twist, haha, oh my God.
> 
> If you do want to watch it, hit me up. It's only thirty-six episodes. I, uh, have my ways.

As his parents had already established, much to Zak's chagrin, it wouldn't be very tactful for him to take Ben into his room. His room at their actual house was plastered with pictures of Ben and the Omnitrix and his alien forms, and Zak's traveling room on the airship was only slightly better. He kept all of the rare collectibles and originals at the house, but any time Zak happened upon doubles, well… His bedroom on the airship always had space.

If it wasn't such a staple of his wardrobe, Zak probably would have switched out his orange for green. But, well, both colors brought back rather unpleasant memories. It was best that he stuck with the family uniform.

Regardless, his bedroom wasn't an option to hang out. And as far as meeting a superhero went, it was kind of a lame venue, anyway. The airship's animal pens weren't much better, but at least they didn't have pictures of Ben's face stuck on every flat surface.

Zak punched in the code to unlock the storage area of the airship, waving Ben and Fisk in ahead of him. "This is where we keep cryptids that have to be transported long distances. Mom and Dad like to leave them in the wild as much as they can, but sometimes it's necessary. And for bumpy rides, it's safer if Komodo and Zon are put away. They can get sprains. Fisk can take care of himself, though," he said, nudging his brother.

" _Awsoptu,"_ Fisk mumbled, looking away as though flustered.

Ben nodded eagerly. He kept looking around, unable to keep his eyes still for more than a few seconds at a time. "So what kind of cryptids do you have? Are they, like, pets or part of your family?"

Usually, that question was asked to offend, but Zak shared a look with Fisk and shrugged. He followed them into the pen and the door swished shut behind them automatically. "They're part of the family," Zak began, "but I guess sometimes they act like pets. Well, not really Fisk and Komodo. I taught Komodo how to pilot a fighter jet," he said proudly.

The impressed look on Ben's face made Zak giddy. "Really? Wow, that's amazing! Rook still won't show me how to operate his ship," he sighed.

They shared a laugh. Fisk crossed his arms, unamused. " _Icnfhipto,"_ he pointed out.

"Right, sorry." Zak rolled his eyes goodnaturedly. "Fisk wants it to be known that he can also fly the ship." His brother thumbed his chest boastfully, looking smug. Biting back a smile, Zak led the way further into the room and continued. "Zon is like a sister, but I grew up with Fisk and Komodo. Zon is an Ornithocheirus, which is a type of pterosaur. She's a hold out from the early Cretaceous period. We only found her in the Amazon rainforest about four years ago and she kind of adopted herself. She's definitely wilder than Fisk and Komodo, but I don't consider her a pet."

He looked over as Ben started to say something, only to be cut off by laughter from Fisk. " _Shcnidesumrlkeatchin,"_ he teased.

Turning a faint red, Zak scowled. "Shut up, she does not," he muttered back.

That was his parents' theory — that because they had accidentally destroyed Zon's nest when they found her, she had imprinted on Zak and pseudo-adopted him as a particularly awkward and helpless baby Ornithocheirus. He disagreed, vehemently. Zon wouldn't be out helping Uncle Doyle if she was concerned with the safety of her "hatchling." Besides, she was way too smart for that.

Amused, Ben arched an eyebrow. He ultimately decided not to question what Zak and Fisk were talking about because he turned to face the pens instead. "So, which one has your komodo dragon? Do those even count as cryptids? They've been proven to exist." He elbowed Fisk good-naturedly. "I still have no idea what you are, dude."

"Neither do mom and dad," Zak joked. He led the way to where Komodo was sleeping, down toward the back of the room. "Just because they've been discovered doesn't mean they still aren't cryptids. It's sort of like the platypus, or the African peacock, or the cyclops shark. And besides," he added mischievously, "Komodo has a unique trait that makes him a lot different from other komodo dragons."

Fisk grumbled, crossing his arms. Much as he knew that his brother liked being the focus of attention, Zak couldn't help it. Komodo was cool and he wanted Ben to meet the rest of his family.

At one of the last pens, Zak stopped and pushed open the door. It wasn't locked and it swung both ways on its hinges so that Komodo could come and go as he pleased. The "pen" was really more like a bedroom. Komodo had a set up with his own heat lamp and plenty of pillows and blankets for him to tear up and lounge on, depending on how he felt. It had taken some work, but Doc had even been able to rig up bursts of water from the ceiling on a timer so that Komodo had a humid atmosphere.

"Hey, Komodo," Zak greeted, getting to his knees. Having heard them approaching, Komodo was awake, but not standing. He lumbered to his feet when he saw Zak, with an air of exasperation, as if he couldn't believe that he had to move all on his own. Once he was within reach, Zak slung his arms around Komodo's neck and gave him a hug before turning to Ben. The look of awe on his face made Zak's grin widen. "At home, he usually sleeps in my room at the foot of my bed. But he doesn't like doing that when we're on the airship because sometimes he slides right off." Zak laughed at the memory and gestured for Ben to come closer. "You can try petting him if you want. Just let him sniff you first. Don't worry, Komodo loves meeting new people and he doesn't bite."

Behind Ben, Fisk rolled his eyes and muttered something that Zak chose not to repeat. Even Komodo seemed a little surprised by the way that Zak was characterizing him.

With no hesitation, Ben nodded and got down on his knees. He let out a low whistle. "Damn, I had no idea that komodo dragons got so… big. He's, what, nine feet long?"

Zak couldn't help the surge of pride in his chest. "Eight feet and ten inches," he corrected. "Last I checked, he was two-hundred and thirteen pounds. He's sixteen years old, so those are all good numbers."

"Sixteen, huh?" Ben hummed thoughtfully. "Hey, maybe that's why he likes you so much. You're the same age."

As he observed, Komodo grew tired of watching them talk and nudged Zak in the side with his snout insistently. With a fond scoff, Zak put his arm around Komodo's neck again and started scratching the soft spot under his jaw, right where he liked it.

"No, I'm fifteen. Komodo just likes attention." Zak looked down at him with a smile. "Mom and Dad hatched him themselves, as part of an abandoned nest that they rescued after the mother died. Komodo was the only one that stuck around. The rest of the babies scattered. He was really weak and tiny. Not anymore now, though, huh?" He scratched harder and Komodo's jaw hung open as he closed his eyes, drooling appreciatively. "He's been a part of this family since before I was born."

At that point, Fisk had had enough of all the smothering Komodo with attention. It didn't help that the overgrown lizard was just _radiating_ smugness. Fisk squeezed into the room around Ben, maneuvering around him to seat himself between Ben and Zak. It was a tight fit, but Fisk just scowled and shoved at Komodo's head. He hissed, tongue snapping, and Fisk continued to ignore him in favor of swooping Zak into one of his arms and standing up.

" _Tmog,"_ he said, pointing toward the door with his free hand. " _Hraewycolrpacsorstose."_

Folding his arms over his chest, Zak gave Fisk his most unimpressed look. "What did we say about picking me up?"

Fisk didn't see how that was relevant to the topic at all. If Zak was still small enough to get picked up, then he was going to get picked up. He didn't seem to like it but, well, maybe he should have tried growing up faster instead of complaining to Fisk as if it was his fault that he could maneuver his brother like a sack of flour.

Movement distracted them both, though. Looking down, it was surprising for Fisk to see Ben sliding next to Komodo. Taking the spot that Zak had been forcibly removed from, Ben held his hand up over Komodo's snout. A forked tongue darted out to swipe at his palm and Ben laughed, wiping his hand on his shirt. "Oh, wow, that's kinda gross. I wasn't expecting there to be that much saliva."

Zak looked up at Fisk and made a "shush" gesture. It wasn't necessary. Fisk already agreed that telling Ben that komodo dragons made venom with their saliva wasn't a good idea. As long as it didn't seep into any gaping wounds, Ben wouldn't get any blood poisoning or experience a sharp drop in blood pressure.

Probably.

When Komodo deemed the scent acceptable, he lowered his head. Ben inhaled sharply and, carefully, set his arm around his neck. His fingers moved, searching for the best place to scratch. At that point, Zak squirmed out of Fisk's arms and he let his brother drop back to his feet. Seeing Komodo let someone pet him after barely a minute was shocking enough for Fisk to momentarily forget his burst of jealousy.

"I've never seen Komodo warm up to anyone that quickly before," Zak said, impressed. He took Ben's wrist and directed his fingers to where Komodo liked to be scratched the most. "Here. Careful, though. He's still got scales there and he won't be so friendly if you pull them."

Ben followed Zak's directions and Komodo was soon laying down flat on his stomach, tail swishing back and forth contentedly as he turned his head so Ben could scratch where Komodo wanted it most. "What can I say?" Ben joked with a laugh. "Animals love me, just like everyone else. I mean, how can they not?"

It was quiet for a few moments. Zak wanted to point out all of the hatred that was directed toward Ben, both by the news and people in just about every demographic, but he held his tongue. There was something strained in Ben's smile, something forced in his joking tone, that told Zak it was better to not comment on it.

He didn't understand it. How could anyone _not_ see Ben as a hero?

To lighten the mood, Zak crossed his legs and patted the ground next to him, gesturing for Fisk to sit. When his brother was on the ground next to him, copying his position, Zak leaned forward with a grin. "So, do you think we can talk you into telling us how you became Ben 10?" He asked eagerly. "I've been dying to know the whole story. There are some theories online, but all of the details are just guesswork." Zak was partly trying to change the subject but, mostly, he was legitimately interested. He had been scouring online resources for the story since he first became a Ben 10 fan.

Thankfully, that did the trick. Ben smirked faintly. "Right. I sort of forget sometimes that my life story isn't common knowledge. Uh, sure. Why not?" He shrugged, still petting Komodo. He had the lizard's head in his lap and Komodo was drooling onto the floor. "It may take a while, though. So depending on how this stakeout goes, we might have to split it into two parts."

"Fine by me," Zak was quick to say. Fisk nodded and grunted out his confirmation, staring at Ben just as attentively as Zak was.

"Well, if you insist." Ben had to bite back a smile, but then he grew serious. "It started when I was ten years old. The summer before fifth grade, actually. I—"

"You were _that_ young?" Zak interrupted, mouth gaping. Most of the online forums placed Ben's first shot at alien hero work at fifteen as the earliest.

Ten years old. Wow. It was even younger than Zak had been when he…

Ben made an overly dramatic shushing sound, holding up a finger so close that Zak's eyes crossed trying to focus on it. "Yes. Ten years old. Do you want me to tell the story or not?" He asked with a mock lecturing tone, one eyebrow arched.

Next to him, Fisk made a squeaking sound and quickly covered his mouth with both hands. Zak settled for an eager nod. "Sorry. Yes, sir, continue please," he said.

"I _guess_ I could continue.' Ben hummed thoughtfully, cupping his chin with one hand while the other stayed tucked under Komodo's jaw. "But if I'm going to spill all of the juicy details, I think you should be willing to tell me a few things, too. A little _quid pro quo_. A give and take. A tit for tat, if you will. You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. One hand washes the other, and all that."

Zak blinked. He had a feeling that he was going to regret asking, but… "What do you want to know?"

There was a dramatic pause while Ben pretended to think about it. "Well, I think that I want to know how you knew Munya and Argost." Like flipping a switch, his playful attitude and the smile were gone. It was like Ben could tilt his chin up, squint his eyes a little, straighten his spine, and become a different person entirely. "Your parents said that you guys were acquaintances, which I buy because you work in the same field, but that's not all there is to it, is there? I want as many of the details as you can tell me."

Instinctively, Zak started to refuse… but then he paused. He knew why his parents had lied to Ben and Rook before, in the hanger. The story was so complicated and more than a little bit morally questionable. Who wanted to admit to being involved in a war? Or admit to murdering a man without regrets?

Who wanted to explain that their son was a monster?

He looked at Fisk and could see that his brother shared the same hesitations. But Zak had heard it, the way that Ben purposefully said, " _as many of the details as you can tell me."_ He was giving Zak an out. Ben knew that there was something he was hiding and he was okay with that. He just wanted to know about Munya and Argost, for the sake of the investigation.

In the end, Ben was saying that Zak didn't have to tell him anything that he didn't want to. He was being so patient and understanding. Zak felt a surge of gratitude in his chest and sighed, looking away from Fisk to nod. "Alright," he agreed. His brother mumbled his disagreement but didn't try to convince Zak otherwise. Fisk knew that there was no changing his mind once Zak had made a decision.

Ben visibly relaxed, smiling again. "Alright, thanks." He reached over and set a hand on Zak's shoulder, reassuring, before letting go. Propping himself up against the wall, Ben got comfortable as he ran a hand down Komodo's back and over his hide. "Now, where was I? Right. Okay, so, the summer when I was ten years old. I was going to spend the whole break on a road trip with my Grandpa Max. Mom and Dad usually never let me spend more than a weekend with him at a time, so it was a big deal. My cousin Gwen tagged along. We didn't get along very well back then, but she's like my best friend now.

"We got to the first campground on our cross-country summer vacation and I was already sick of her," Ben said with a fond laugh. "I decided to take a walk to clear my head and I saw a shooting star. Only, instead of a shooting star, it was a containment pod that shot out of the sky and nearly mowed me down. I got out of the way in time and then, when I investigated, I found the Omnitrix. It clamped itself onto my wrist and I couldn't get it off." He shrugged. Then, making Zak practically vibrate with excitement, Ben tapped a code into the Omnitrix's faceplate and he slid it right off like it was an oversized bracelet. "Obviously, it doesn't do that anymore. Azmuth — the alien who created the Omnitrix, since you wouldn't know that — fixed that feature after I complained about it."

It was weird to see the Omnitrix without Ben's wrist wearing it, like something in Zak's head was telling him that it was _wrong_. He glanced over at Fisk and, similarly, his brother was stunned. Both of them had forgotten how to speak, eyes wide with interest.

"See what I mean?" Their attention was dragged back to Ben as he continued. He pointed to his wrist and Zak could see where the skin was redder and thicker, a circle of scar tissue that looked like it had been badly burnt. "It was pretty bad when I was younger. The thing is, the Omnitrix I found when I was ten was a prototype and this was a bug. It pretty much corroded its way into my skin. I had to get physical therapy when I was twelve to be able to move my fingers properly again. It used to be really painful, or cause my whole arm to seize up."

The casual way in which Ben talked about the Omnitrix nearly crippling his left hand was what left Zak at a loss for words. It was as if it didn't matter in the slightest to him.

Zak eventually found his voice first and cleared his throat. "Isn't that dangerous, though?" He asked, pointing at the Omnitrix. He was desperate to change the subject. "I mean, couldn't a villain just take it from you in the middle of a fight?"

"Sure," Ben said with a surprising amount of nonchalance. "I could even do this. Here." And, to Zak's complete stupefaction, Ben tossed it at him. He just tossed the most powerful device in the universe to a guy that he had known for maybe two hours. "You can put it on if you want. Go ahead. Try it."

Again, looking over at his brother, Zak and Fisk shared a look. But whereas Fisk was dubious, shaking his head, Zak grinned and shoved the Omnitrix on. It looked so cool, gleaming against his wrist. He tugged on the strap, trying to get it to fit correctly, but it continued to hang off of him like he was a child playing dress-up. Despite his earlier disapproval, Fisk mumbled with disappointment.

"How do you adjust this thing?" Zak asked. He tried tapping the faceplate like Ben had.

Instead of popping up and displaying a cool, holographic selection pad of aliens for Zak to pick from, the Omnitrix beeped lowly and the display shifted to a jagged line. " _Error. Biometric data does not match Ben Tennyson."_ The voice was Ben's, sounding like it had been run through a computer, but it came from the Omnitrix.

Surprised, Zak looked up at Ben, seeing him grinning. "It talks?" He managed.

" _Error. Vocal pattern does not match Ben Tennyson,"_ the Ben-like voice from the Omnitrix cut in. Zak tapped the faceplate again, annoyed, and got the same weak beep. Access denied, apparently.

He sighed and slipped it off, handing it back to Ben. "Man, that's so cool," he sighed. "So it only works for you?"

Ben slipped the Omnitrix back on and it automatically resized to fit snuggling around his wrist. Maybe Zak was reading too much into it, but the Omnitrix almost seemed eager and a little tighter-fitting than before. How ridiculous would that be, though? It was high-tech, sure, but it was still just a device. Machines and watches couldn't be _possessive_.

"Yeah. It needs proof of my identity before it will work for someone," Ben explained. "I didn't want it to be melded into my wrist anymore, but Azmuth had security concerns, so he added that feature. It's pretty neat. Definitely better than the alternative." He rubbed his wrist just below the Omnitrix with a grimace. For a second, Zak could have sworn that the faceplate was glowing — as if to provide comfort — but then he blinked and it was gone.

" _Wafsmonurfitngest?"_ Fisk asked. He had a thoughtful frown on his face, but Zak wasn't sure if that was because of what he was thinking about or because he had seen the same thing that Zak did.

"Fisk has a point. What if someone you're fighting gets hold of it?" Zak translated for Fisk. "Isn't it still dangerous to let them disarm you?"

"Well, yeah, sure." Ben snorted. He was smiling, relaxed again. "I don't go around throwing the Omnitrix at just anybody. If worst comes to worst, I can tell the Omnitrix to blow up. It takes voice commands." Before Zak or Fisk could say anything — as they were both very interested in that line of conversation — Ben sighed and sat back, propping himself up on his right hand. "Wow, I could talk about myself for hours. There's so much interesting stuff to tell. Maybe I'll write a book. But, first, you should tell me what you can about Munya and Argost. I mean, I'm still working a job right now," he explained, "and I have plenty of time to talk to my friends once I'm done."

Zak perked up. "We're… friends?" He asked hesitantly, gesturing between the three of them. Well, four if Komodo was included, but he was asleep and not paying any attention.

"Um… well, I think so," Ben said carefully. He was looking up at the ceiling and there was a faint, embarrassed blush across his face. "This is literally the most awkward way I've ever done this, but— yeah. We're friends. If you want to be."

There was literally zero possibility that Zak would ever refuse an offer like that. He couldn't suppress his grin, but he managed to stay on the floor instead of jumping up and down for joy. He cleared his throat, struggling to compose himself, and forced a casual shrug. "Yeah, we can be friends. Whatever. It's cool."

Mimicking him, Fisk quickly crossed his arms and mumbled pretty much the same thing, examining his nails with an air of aloofness. They were both so smooth.

Based on the grin on Ben's face, he wasn't buying it. "So…?" He prompted, one eyebrow raised. At least he was changing the subject. "What's the story with Spider-Man and Doctor Creepy's exploding house of horrors?"

What _was_ the story, indeed?

Obviously, Zak was going to have to do some editing, but there had to be some air of truthfulness to it. Ben wasn't an idiot. And if Zak wanted to help him with the investigation, Ben was going to need some concrete details to go off of. Lying to him wasn't going to help. "Selective disinformation," however, was free game.

"Okay." With a sigh, Zak slumped. "So there's this thing called the Kur Stone."

As soon as he said it, Zak's brothers stirred with disapproval. Fisk jumped in surprise and clamped a hand down over Zak's mouth, growling in a lecturing tone. Apparently, Komodo _had_ been paying attention to their conversation, because he pushed himself off of Ben's lap and smacked Zak on the back of the head with his tail. It was when Fisk said, " _Mgintelmonad,"_ that Zak finally figured out how to respond.

He elbowed Fisk in the side, getting him to let go of Zak's head, and twisted free. "Woah, calm down! Both of you."

Zak put an arm around Komodo's neck and grabbed the same spot that he had been petting. A good twist to the nerves there made Komodo seize up and go limp, content and out of it. He flickered in and out of sight as he dozed and Ben looked on with a mix of amazement and confusion. Zak wasn't going to take the time to explain to him that Komodo could turn invisible, though. Even among cryptids, the adopted members of the Saturday family were considered abnormal. Ben was just going to have to get used to that.

"You don't need to get mom and dad," Zak said soothingly, setting a hand on Fisk's arm. He smiled and purposefully widened his eyes. Nothing got Fisk to give in and agree like doing the puppy dog eyes. "Look, this will help when they fight Munya. And I'm not going to tell Ben _everything_. You know. The things that aren't important to this mission. Like the thing we talked about the other day."

He could see Fisk struggling to find a protest. When he still didn't look convinced, though, Zak let go of him and clutched his hands together pleadingly. "Please?" He tried. "If this blows up in my face, I'll let you say _"I told you so."_ I know you love that."

Fisk huffed. He turned his back to Zak and waved his hand dismissively, muttering under his breath. That was a clear sign that he still didn't agree, _but_ it also meant that he wasn't going to get their parents involved. Zak did a silent fist bump. There was no possible way he would mess anything up just by telling Ben a few things. It would be fine.

"By the way that whole exchange went, this whole Kur Stone thing must be a pretty big deal," Ben remarked once things had gone quiet again.

Alright, time to get serious. "It is," he said with a grimace. He had never told anyone this story before. Where to begin? Zak took a deep breath. "The Kur Stone is an artifact from Sumer, the first literate civilization of ancient Mesopotamia. It's… sort of a map. Whoever has it, can use it to find Kur. And Kur is…" Zak searched for the right words. Saying that name so much was starting to make his head throb. "It's a monster. Kur has many names: the King of Cryptids, Scourge of the Human Race, the Destroyer, the Serpent, the Blackness of the World." He pressed his lips into a thin line. Fisk, still determined to stay out of it, shuddered.

Ben nodded slowly. "That sounds…" He blinked. "...really heavy. So Kur is a cryptid?"

"Uh, sort of." Zak made a face. "It's not a cryptid in the traditional sense. I mean, it isn't a species. Kur is a term for one being. It's an immortal spirit that reincarnates. I called it the King of Cryptids, but it's really more like a god. The thing is, Kur can control other cryptids. Sort of impose its will over theirs and force it to do its bidding."

Remarkably, Ben was taking all of that in stride. He didn't look even slightly doubtful. Although considering all the stuff he had claimed to do and even more that had been described by supposed witnesses, maybe it wasn't that surprising.

"Okay," Ben said once he had finished processing. "So if Kur is so incomprehensibly evil, why do you need a stone map to find it? I think that something like that would be hard to miss." He paused. "And I still don't see what this has to do with Munya and Argost."

"Shh, I'm getting there. Please hold all questions," said Zak as he gestured for Ben to be quiet. "Okay, uh… So about four-thousand years ago, the Sumerian warrior-king Gilgamesh had a legendary battle with Kur that ended with him slaying it and breaking the reincarnation cycle. That's where the Kur Stone comes in. It was carved back in two-thousand B.C., give or take a few hundred years, and it wasn't recovered until fifteen years ago. See, an archeological team had managed to dig it out but they didn't know what they were dealing with. That's where Argost comes in. He… stole it."

"Oh." It took a moment, but Ben's eyes widened when realization finally struck. " _Oh_. And I'm guessing that he didn't have any plans for world peace when he decided to hunt down the "Scourge of the Human Race," huh?" Ben cursed. "And his TV show was so good, too! I'm never going to be able to watch it the same way again."

Zak nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it," he sighed. "But anyway, he stole the Kur Stone and a group of, uh… people went to retrieve it. My parents were with them. And when they got the Stone back from him, they decided that it would be safer to separate it, so they carved it into three pieces and some members agreed to protect one. That's how we're involved with Argost — my parents got one of the pieces of the Stone and he wanted it back."

Ben sort of laughed. "I'm guessing you guys kept it from him, then. Otherwise, I think I would have noticed something as powerful as Kur walking around," he joked.

"Uh…" Zak spared a glance at his brother, who was rapidly shaking his head. Looking from Fisk and back to Ben, Zak forced a wide smile. "Yeah, exactly! There was a bit more to it than that, but yeah. We had this fight and… You saw the news article." He mimicked an explosion with his hands. "The leaking gas pipe bit was fake, but his house went up in flames. Argost didn't make it out and, um…" He hesitated. "Neither did the Kur Stone. Yeah. It was blown apart. So we don't have to worry about Kur. That's ancient history." He managed a strangled laugh. Fisk tried to join in, but his expression was stricken and he stopped quickly.

Of course, Ben wasn't nearly stupid enough to take that at face value, but he nodded anyway. Zak was oversimplifying and bending the truth (outright snapping it, in some places) but Ben had the gist of it. That would have to be good enough.

He had spent the last two years trying desperately to forget about Kur. Zak didn't need to remind himself.

"Well, I guess that explains why Munya hates you so much. Your family got his boss killed and ruined his master plan," Ben mused. He cupped his chin in his hand, thoughtful, then suddenly grinned. "Oh, hey, does that mean you can actually fight? Like, for real? Maybe we should spar some time!"

The change in topic was obvious, but it worked. Fisk turned around, suddenly interested in the conversation again, and patted himself on the chest boastfully. He flexed his arms, showing off his muscles before making a "come at me" gesture.

The laugh that Zak let out was still forced, though less noticeably. He tried to convince himself to relax. "Fisk is a pretty good fighter, too, but I think you got that." Zak rolled his eyes and reached down, unclipping the Claw from his belt and holding it up for Ben to see.

"Wasn't that what Munya was trying to take from you?" Ben asked, leaning forward to look at it more closely. "I was wondering what it was."

Zak shrugged. "Well, I've fought him before, so he probably knew that it was my weapon and wanted to get it away from me." That was the most logical option, but it didn't sit right with Zak. He ignored the doubt stirring in his gut. What other possible reason could Munya have for wanting the Claw? "The top is the claw of a Thunderbird. Dad made it for me. It lets me grapple, grab things, and it extends into a staff. See?" Zak pressed the release button and nearly smacked Fisk in the face with the back end.

" _Wtci!"_ Fisk snapped, having jumped back at the last second to avoid the "attack."

"Sorry," said Zak, biting back a smile. He retracted the staff and, after a pause, held out the Claw for Ben to take. It seemed only fair since he had _actually_ let Zak touch and wear the Omnitrix. "Do you wanna see it?"

Ben reached out to take it. "Sure. It looks really cool. What's it made out of?" His fingers only brushed the metal before they were interrupted.

The door to the pens opened with a whir of the automatic gyros and there was a frantic shout of, " _Ben!"_ It sounded like Rook, but the volume made Zak jump. He was sort of impressed that the alien could manage to sound so angry and worried at the same time. It reminded Zak of his parents.

"Back here, Rook!" Ben called, unconcerned. He had a pleasant smile on his face that didn't falter even when Rook's frantic footsteps brought him swinging around the corner with a heated glare on his face.

Komodo, fed up with the strangers and interruptions, pulled away from them and trotted to the back of the room. He curled up with his back facing them, directly under one of his heat lamps, and seemed content to pretend that they weren't there.

"Where have you been?" Rook demanded. "I spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Saturday a while longer after you left, then when they suggested Zak's bedroom, you were not there. I tried to locate you through the Omnitrix, but all it gave me was an error! And then when I managed to connect to you again, I find you in an _animal pen_ when we have a case to be working on. Have you been here the whole time?"

Surprisingly, Ben seemed completely nonchalant. He shrugged. "Pretty much. You worry too much, Rook. You should try sitting down and petting the komodo dragon," He suggested.

Rook looked very much like he did _not_ want to do that if the way his right eye was twitching meant anything. "What have you been doing?" He asked lowly, carefully. There was a glare on his face, entirely directed at Zak. Of course, he glared right back at Rook.

"Storytime. I was just telling them the story of how I first got the Omnitrix," Ben said proudly, only partly lying.

Still frowning, Rook rolled his eyes. "Oh, so you were recounting to them the heroic escapade of the time you nearly burnt down a national forest?" He asked with false innocence.

"I— no!" Ben sputtered, turning red. His embarrassment probably wasn't helped by Zak's laughter. "I don't— Okay, who told? Was _that_ in my file?"

"No. Gwendolyn told me," admitted Rook with a chuckle. Almost begrudgingly, he seemed to relax. "Although, I can always make a suggestion for that to be added. But why couldn't I find the Omnitrix's signal before?" And, of course, right back to business as usual. The tension in Rook's posture returned.

Ben stood up and, almost bored, offered a one-armed shrug. "Oh, that's probably because I took it off and let Zak put it on." Ignoring Rook's strangled protests and disbelief, he turned and looked down at Zak and Fisk with a grin. "We'll talk about a spar later. How about I show you guys how to set up for a good stakeout?"

Partly out of excitement for the idea and partly because it looked like Rook was torn between passing out and screaming, Zak grinned. "Hell yes! Do you wanna come, Komodo?" He glanced over at his brother, but Komodo was just as disinterested as he had been before. Fisk stood up, letting out a cheer, and Zak laughed too as he got to his feet.

"Alright, stakeout it is!" Ben proclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "So, firstly, what room on this airship has the best view?"

"Me and Fisk will show you! Right, Fisk?" With his brother nodding in confirmation, equally as excited, Zak grabbed Ben by the wrist and gave him a little tug forward. "C'mon. This airship is huge, it'll be faster if we run. You can think of it as a race, if you want. Go!" And with only that announcement as a warning, Zak took off for the door with Fisk hot on his heels.

"Hey! It's not fair if I don't know where we're supposed to be going!" Ben shouted after him, but Zak heard him laughing and the sound of his tennis shoe hitting the steel floor and knew that he was following.

"Ben!" Rook finally managed to snap out of it and, oh, did he sound _pissed_. "Ben Tennyson, get back here! Do not run off again!" Then the door slid shut with a hiss behind him and there was just the sound of three people running and laughing.


	6. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for those readers who have actually watched The Secret Saturdays… the Owlman episode is really good, huh? It would be a shame if that episode were to have _unintended, far-reaching consequences_.

"This is the best view in the airship," Zak said with a flourish. He pressed the large red button labeled _"OPEN HANGAR"_ and a huge portion of the floor sectioned off by guard rails began peeling back.

Ben watched with a grin on his face. He had noticed that the Saturdays had a submarine and a fighter jet in their hangar (both of which, Zak assured were kept for field research purposes only), and seeing the hangar bay doors open up made him itch for a free fall. They were enormous, covering the space of a large house.

"How big even is this airship?" Ben wondered aloud. They were high up enough that the bottom of the cloud layer caressed the airship's stomach, making for perfect camouflage, despite the fact that the Saturdays' airship was massive and painted bright orange and yellow.

"I'm sure dad has the specs somewhere," Zak answered. He wandered over to where Ben was leaning against the railing, Fisk at his side. He pulled out his handheld — which Ben learned was called a CP, for Cryptidpedia — and pulled up the map displaying the satellite-tracking real-time locations for all the chupacabras that the Saturdays had tagged. "All we have to do now is wait for one of these dots to go offline, get down there, find Munya tearing through the forest, and lay down the law." He chuckled. "Easy."

Amused, Ben arched an eyebrow. "Uh, I hope by "we," you mean me and Rook, because you're still a civilian _and_ a target for this dude's misplaced aggression. Not to be that guy, but I think your parents were right when they said that you should stay out of this."

"Are you serious?" Zak crossed his arms over his chest, scowling. "People have been saying that since I was _eleven_! I know how to fight, I can take care of myself in a fight."

Feeling helpless, Ben turned to Fisk for help and noticed that he was pointedly looking away, pretending to be interested in something through the wispy cloud layer and trying to look as innocent as possible. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Fisk must have been one of the "people" doing the babying.

"It's not that I don't think you can fight," Ben said with a sigh. "It's just that… You're human." He shrugged, managing a smile. "You're, like, fifteen and you don't have any body armor or mutated abilities to make you better in a fight. I know you can hold your own, but Munya is eight feet tall and has muscles bigger than _me_ , _and_ you're his target for revenge right now. It's going to be a lot harder to do my job if I'm worried about him grabbing you. He could do some serious damage." Ben tried to laugh and it sounded strained. "Trust me. I'm still human a lot of the time. It's no fun getting caught like that. If it helps, I don't want Fisk fighting this guy, either."

Zak still seemed annoyed, but he was smart enough to recognize when an argument was pointless because he sighed. Ignoring Fisk's indignant complaints, he nodded. "I… guess that's fair," he conceded. "I'll leave your investigation alone."

"Thanks," Ben said gratefully, relaxing. "Not that I can't use help sometimes, and you and your family have been really helpful, there's just no reason to complicate things with grudges and revenge."

With a grunt of acknowledgment, Zak pushed away from the railing. He sat down on the metal floor a good distance away from the still-open hangar hatch. "No, it's fine. I get it. So, you were going to teach us about good stake-outs, right?" He pressed.

Ben nodded and walked over to him with a smile. Fisk sat down next to Zak, both of them looking up at Ben eagerly. "The first step to any good stake-out is staying awake," Ben began. "Sometimes people will suggest drinking soda or coffee so you stay awake longer, but in my experience, the sugar crash will only make you more drowsy than you were before, so your reaction time and attentiveness drops. Your best bet is to take it in shifts: one person sleeps for an hour and a half, then the other person wakes them up and they switch. This should work no matter how big your group is because you want everyone to be rested up for a fight and it only takes one person to be on lookout duty."

Before Ben could go on, about to start listing all of the best ways to keep yourself awake without losing focus, the door to the hangar opened. Rook, having finally caught up with them, stalked over to their group with a scowl on his face.

"Hey, partner." Ben greeted him with a casual wave. "Nice of you to show up. We were just talking about some pointers for a good stake-out. Care to share with the class?"

Sometimes, Rook would indulge Ben's silly tendencies, but he appeared to be in a very bad mood because he barely even reacted to the request. "Ben, I would like to speak with you. There is a matter which we must discuss _privately_." The way that he shot a glare in Zak's direction made Ben pretty sure what the conversation was going to be about.

Still, there was no point in delaying it. Ben shrugged. "Sure," he agreed. Then, to Zak and Fisk, "I'll be right back. Don't get the party started without me."

"We'll make sure you're back here before we blow out the candles," Zak quipped back.

There was an impatient groan from Rook, who took Ben by the arm and steered him away. He was still chuckling under his breath when Rook led the way out of the hangar and the door shut behind them, although Ben's laughter didn't last for long after that.

They walked further than was probably necessary before Rook turned, opened a door at random, and gestured Ben inside. He complied, but not without an eye roll. The room, as it turned out, was some sort of medical examination room probably designed for injured cryptids and other animals. At the very least, it was filled with heavy and expensive-looking machinery and none of it seemed suitable for humans.

"You do not find _anything_ here remotely suspicious?" Rook snapped as soon as the door was shut, not even waiting for Ben to turn around and face him. "You have not questioned for even a moment how _cryptozoologists_ can afford such expensive equipment? It has not struck you as odd that they are obviously lying to us and avoiding answering questions directly? It seems awfully coincidental that Zak is a fan of yours. Quite an easy way to squeeze information out of you."

Ben whirled around and threw his hands up in the air with a groan. "Dude, what is your _problem_ with Zak? He's a good guy!" Rook went to open his mouth, but Ben cut him off. "Uh-uh, don't start with that, Rook. Just admit you don't like him! Look, _who cares_ if they've got some things that they want to keep to themselves? Our job is to catch Animo, not go nosing about people's personal business. Some of this stuff is obviously super touchy." He sighed. "It's not like secrets are a crime."

Rook pressed his lips into a thin line, his nose scrunched up in the way that he did it when he was upset. "Actually," he said softly, "I took the liberty of running a background check on their entire family." As soon as he heard "background check," Ben was bristling with indignation, but Rook continued. "I know what you are going to say, but I did turn something up. They all have a criminal record, Ben."

"Oh." That took some of the wind out of Ben's sails. He thought for a moment. "What did they do, then?"

The question made Rook hesitate but, after a moment, he admitted, "About four years ago, the entire family was arrested in a small village in southern England named Monnen. I managed to find the incident report." Pulling out his Plumber badge, Rook turned it on and swiped through a few options before showing Ben and holographic rendering of a piece of paper, about half-way filled with cramped, neat writing. "Apparently, they were charged with disturbance of the peace." Rook made a face. "The details say that they harassed an elderly man on the street by holding him upside down and threatened to put a concussion grenade down his pants. When the constable told them to stop and insisted that they leave, they took his hat, baton, and whistle, then proceeded to mock him. After that, he issued the arrest."

There was a pause while Ben waited for Rook to continue. When he didn't, Ben raised an eyebrow. "Is that it?"

"Should there be any more?" Rook asked defensively. "They assaulted an officer!"

Turning faintly red, Ben gave a helpless gesture. "Yeah, but you were working this up to be some huge thing! I mean, I've watched Kevin _kill someone_ and he's my best friend! You bought some car parts off of him last week!" He ran a hand over his face with a weary sigh. "Look, I'm sure that there's a story to it, so I can ask Zak if you really want me to. But, seriously, Rook. Is that all you have? Because you're starting to sound like a hypocrite."

He hated to say it, though it was true. Ben had been hoping that it would blow over, but he couldn't just pretend that Rook hadn't been unfairly angry with Zak since they met. He had no idea _why_ , still, Ben wasn't about to let Rook criminalize his new friends over something so small when he had no problem being friends with Kevin.

It was Rook's turn to be embarrassed and he scowled. But then he took a deep breath and huffed softly. "As a matter of fact, I did notice something peculiar," he admitted. "The incident report describes four people and a rather large gorilla-type creature. You may have noticed that there are only three human members of the Saturday family."

Ben frowned thoughtfully. "I guess that's kind of odd," he admitted carefully, "but they could've just been traveling with a friend. Does it list a name?"

"It does," Rook confirmed with a nod. "A man by the name of Jerald Stephens. They did not take a mugshot or, at least, they do not have one on file, but the report describes a man with red hair, tall and muscularly built. I did a search on the name." He paused. "Jerald Stephens does not exist."

That was not a turn that Ben was expecting Rook's story to take. He opened his mouth and then closed it. After a moment, Ben settled on, "What do you mean he doesn't exist? Like, the guy was using a fake I.D.?"

Another nod. "Definitely." Rook pressed another button on his Plumber badge and it brought up a digital print of a U.S. passport. Ben didn't recognize the man in the photo, but he had the red hair that Rook mentioned and the name clearly said _Jerald Stephens_. "This is all that I could find on him. There is no birth certificate or social security number or any bank records for this man. If I had to guess, I would say that he often travels under fake names. This passport is remarkably well forged," Rook explained. "Likely expensive, too."

Grappling for an excuse, Ben came up empty. He bit his lower lip, concerned. "Okay, yeah, that's pretty suspicious. Do you know who this guy really is?"

Rook turned his Plumber badge off and put it away. "Not yet. I have been running a search through every criminal database that I have access to. I cannot think of another reason why only he would have a fake I.D. when the rest of the family does not." He shook his head.

Much as Ben wanted to give Zak and his family the benefit of the doubt, as kind as they had been, he couldn't ignore criminal behavior like that. Whoever they had been traveling with, maybe he was reformed. Ben was hoping that it was the case, but if it wasn't... He sighed. "Tell me when you get any results. But no matter what you find out about him, we leave this alone until _after_ we've gotten Animo back behind bars. One criminal at a time. Deal?" To seal their agreement, Ben stuck his hand out to shake.

There was a pause while Rook stared at his outstretched hand, unsure, but then he sighed and took it. "Deal." Rook gave one, firm shake and that was that.

They walked back to the hangar in silence, although it wasn't awkward. There just wasn't much to say between them. Ben was preparing what he was going to say to Zak and Fisk, some sort of explanation that he could offer to ease the tension that Rook insisted on bringing everywhere, but it turned out that there was no need. When they reentered the hangar, it was to see Fisk crouched next to Zak, peering over his shoulder as they muttered about something they were looking at on his CP.

"Something wrong?" Ben asked reflexively. He was familiar with that worried expression.

"Hm?" Zak looked up and seemed surprised to see Ben there, blinking owlishly for a moment. "Oh, uh, no. Maybe. We aren't sure yet." He held up the Cryptidpedia for Ben to get a look at as he walked over to the two of them. "One of the chupacabras is moving really fast, but its tracker is still online. It _could_ be hunting, but…" Zak made a face.

Ben nodded in understanding. "Yeah. You don't want to hunt it down if nothing's wrong. It could just be a distraction. That's the second lesson for a good stake-out, by the way," he said with a grin. "Knowing when to jump out. Timing is everything."

Zak started to reply but was cut off when his handheld began beeping sharply. All amusement vanished from his face as he turned frantically back to the CP, pushing himself up onto his feet. "It's the chupacabra we were following," he said in a rush before Ben could ask what happened. "It just went offline. We have to get down there!"

Before Rook could cut in, Ben took lead. "You and Fisk stay here," he said firmly, pointing to them both. "Your parents will be here in a minute, then you can go with them if they let you. But we need to go, _now_. Tell us where we're heading." He jogged over to the railing over the open hangar doors, hand hovering over the Omnitrix. Jetray ought to be more than fast enough to catch an overgrown spider.

There was a moment where Zak visibly struggled, obviously unhappy with being reduced to the sidelines, but then Fisk nudged him and muttered something, snapping him out of his daze. "To the west," he said, pointing. "About two miles. You can't miss it — Munya wasn't built to be subtle."

Shooting him a grin, Ben tossed in a thumbs up for good measure. "Don't worry. We'll bring Munya in and save that cryptid for you. Ready, partner?" Ben turned to Rook.

Sparing a glance at Zak, Rook nodded and managed to look only a little bit smug while doing it. "Always," he quipped back.

Hefting himself up over the side of the railing, Ben let himself drop out of the airship in a freefall, indulging in the familiar rush of adrenaline as his hair whipped painfully into his face. He used to worry about hitting the ground but, anymore, he had very few aliens who couldn't walk away from a collision like that.

He popped open the Omnitrix's dial and quickly found who he was looking for. Ben pressed down and squeezed his eyes shut as his skin began to ripple and harden. In half-a-second, his legs had shortened and snapped into their new place, a membrane latched itself between his arms and his sides, and Ben felt his back muscles grow thicker to support wings, his bones hollowing and his lungs expanding as the gill slits on his sides flared in the rushing wind. He tumbled for a moment, then tucked his wings close to his body and snapped them out again with a powerful flap.

When Jetray opened his slanted eyes, he couldn't feel the sting of the wind, and the world had been bent into perfect clarity. He could see for miles in either direction, despite the moon and stars being his only light. It was easy to spot where the trees were shaking and being knocked out of the way as Munya forced his way through the forest.

He glanced up and another flap of his wings brought him level to Rook, the Saturdays' airship dangling like a toy far above their heads. " _Hold on!_ " Jetray shouted to be heard over the wind as his talons closed around Rook's shoulders, quickly adjusting to the added weight. He felt Rook reach up to grab his ankles for added support and, finding their balance, Jetray propelled them forward at an incredible speed.

Munya was coming into view quickly. He had a squirming bundle of web over one shoulder and was stealing glances back at them with an ugly snarl on his face. Jetray felt his facial muscles twitch into a loose approximation of a grin.

Without needing to say a word, Rook knew what to do. He let go of Jetray's ankles at the same time that his talons released. Whipping out his Proto-Tool, Rook extended it into a staff and slammed the end of it into Munya's back as they collided, hard enough that Munya went tumbling over. Rook pushed off of him at the last second, doing a neat backflip and landing gracefully in a crouch as Munya growled, face-down in the dirt. The chupacabra had gone flying, landing in the bushes and only getting more tangled up in the foliage as it thrashed against its web bindings, whimpering.

As Rook straightened up, Jetray swooped down and landed at his side. " _You get that chupacabra free while I handle this bad Spiderman cosplay_ ," he said. Rook glanced over, only to quickly look away again as Jetray pressed the Omnitrix symbol protruding from his chest and a flash of green light lit up the area. It was Four Arms who smirked when the light died down, cracking all four sets of his knuckles, and finished with, " _He owes me a rematch_."

Rook nodded. He didn't need to be told twice. Munya had just gotten back to his feet when Four Arms took a running start at him, cupping his two lower sets of hands and slamming his fists into Munya's jaw. He went flying, sent slamming into trees and skipping over the ground like a stone over a pond. The crashing noise that was made as Munya tore through trunks almost as big as he was, was unholy. Still, Rook kept a passive expression, watching as Four Arms jumped into the air with his powerful legs and went pounding through the remaining trees after him.

Once Ben was gone, Rook turned to the writhing pile of webbing and knelt down next to it with his Proto-Tool in hand. If it kept struggling in its blind panic, the chupacabra was going to end up unable to breathe when the webs inevitably began suffocating it or even cutting off blood circulation.

After a moment of thought, Rook switched his Proto-Tool into laser mode and set a hand on the chupacabra's bound chest. As soon as he touched it, though, it began to snarl and thrash even harder than it had been before. Rook immediately pulled back, startled. He didn't want to hurt the poor thing, but he had no idea how long it would take for it to tire itself out and Rook wasn't going to leave Ben in a fight alone, even if he could probably handle it.

A shout and a rustle in the leaves above his head caught his attention and, without a second thought, Rook aimed above him and fired. There was another yell, this one clearer, and then a grunt as Zak Saturday fell from the tree and hit the ground on his stomach, letting out a groan of pain.

Immediately, Rook bristled. "What do you think you are doing?" He snapped. "How did you even—?" He cut himself off, taking in the tattered parachute pack still clinging to Zak's back and finally noticing the wisps of a fabric left caught in the branches. Rook felt his anger go from fiery to very, very calm. "You were to stay put," he said flatly.

Completely unconcerned with his tone, Zak gave a one-armed shrug as he pushed himself up. "I jump out of the airship all the time. I mean, it usually goes better when Zon is there to catch me, but we own parachutes for a reason." He grinned at Rook, only somewhat mockingly. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, at least Fisk decided to stay back and wait for mom and dad."

Rook felt his eyebrow twitch and his grip on the Proto-Tool had begun to shake. "This is not your job," he continued, still speaking evenly. "You were told to stay out of the way for your own protection."

"Yeah, like that's ever stopped me before." Zak rolled his eyes. He ignored Rook, still choking on his indignation, and moved to the other side of the chupacabra. Rook hadn't noticed, absorbed in their conversation, but at some point, it had stopped struggling. Unlike when Rook had put a hand on its side, it seemed to lean into Zak's touch. "There, there," Zak cooed as if Rook wasn't even there. "I know you must be scared… This stuff is tough, huh? Let's see what we can do about getting you out of there."

Stunned, all Rook could do was watch as Zak used his weapon — the bird claw at the end of his staff — to cut through the web while the chupacabra remained relaxed for him. Zak kept speaking to it, stroking down its side, and only paused periodically to remove the webbing that had clumped up between his claw's talons before continuing.

Despite himself, a part of Rook couldn't help but be… amazed. He knew that some people were naturally good with animals, but it seemed like Zak just being close had a calming effect on the chupacabra.

When he had all of the webbing tossed to the side, Zak ran a finger along the spine protruding from the top of the chupacabra's head. It made a noise like a growl, though it didn't sound aggressive. It blinked at Zak with its huge eyes before turning away from him and darting away, quickly getting lost between the trees.

Once it was gone, reality set in. Rook felt his ears burning hot beneath his fur and there was a surge of frustration in his chest. He had just been shown up by a _child_. Ben had been counting on him and, honestly, if Zak hadn't been there then Rook knew the task wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly.

He got to his feet, shifting his Proto-Tool back into a default blaster and holding it at the ready. It was pitch-black in the forest, but Rook could dimly see Munya and Four Arms jostling trees in the distance with their fight and occasionally was able to make out the sound of one of them crashing. "Now that _that_ is out of the way, you must leave immediately. I need to assist Ben in fighting Munya and you are a liability."

Zak had been trying to pick away the remaining bits of web still clinging to his weapon but, upon hearing Rook's statement, he bristled and looked up with a scowl. "A _liability_?" He repeated, incredulous. "You're the one with the badge and you can't even handle some sticky webs! Between the two of us, I don't think you have any room to talk."

"I did not realize that we were basing "usefulness" on menial tasks that any creature functioning above the mental capacity of a jellyfish could perform," Rook shot back.

"If that's how low the bar is, then I guess it makes sense that _you_ couldn't do something so _menial_ ," said Zak with a sneer. He stepped closer and Rook was intensely aware of Zak's hands clenching around his weapon, of his own grip on the Proto-Tool turning so tight that it was nearly painful.

Movement out of the corner of his eye spurred Rook into motion. He grabbed Zak by the shirt collar and threw him to the ground, landing hard above him on his forearms as Rook shielded Zak's body with his own. It was an instinct from working with someone who refused to wear armor. His reaction was right on time too, as Rook felt Four Arms' foot brush the edge of his fur as Ben went sailing over their heads and slammed with a thunderous snap into a tree bigger than he was.

"Woah," Zak said softly, still pinned beneath Rook.

He was stunned, but not for long. As soon as Zak started trying to move, Rook pushed himself up and swung around. Jogging over to his partner, Rook was greeted by the sound of the Omnitrix powering down and a flash of green light as the powerful body of a Tetramand collapsed back to that of a normal human.

"Ben!" Rook came to stand at his side, holding the Proto-Tool up and looking around for any sign of Munya. Had he given up? "Are you alright? Where is—?"

Groaning, Ben climbed to his feet, ignoring Rook to focus on Zak with panic in his eyes. "What are you doing here? You're a target, Zak!" He shouted.

A split-second to be surprised was the only preparation that Rook got as Munya landed hard between them, splitting the dirt and forming a crater as the resulting shockwave sent Rook to his knees. He tried to bring his Proto-Tool up to get a good shot, but Rook lost it when he began violently coughing. There was so much dust kicked up into the air that his eyes were beginning to water.

All of that faded from Rook's mind when someone screamed. He was quickly on his feet, feeling Ben right next to him. The cloud of dust faded quickly and Rook got a good view of Munya's hand wrapped around Zak's torso, lifting him off of the ground and _squeezing_. There was another scream — not from fear but, rather, out of pain.

" _Zak_!" Ben darted forward, hitting the Omnitrix mid-stride. His next step shook the ground and Humungousaur drove his fist into Munya's gut. It didn't make him drop Zak, but Munya's grip slackened enough for Humungousaur to force his hand open and allow Zak to collapse to the ground.

Moving quickly, Rook flipped his Proto-Tool into a tether line and aimed it at Zak, firing and watching the end wrap around his ankle. He wasn't immediately moving, which was a bad sign. Rook yanked him out of the way of the two fighting giants, pulling Zak toward him and shielding them both behind a gathering of trees. He could still hear Humungousaur and Munya exchanging blows, but Rook wasn't focusing on that anymore.

He snapped his fingers above Zak's head, which got him a groan and coaxed Zak into opening his eyes. "Follow my finger," Rook instructed, and Zak surprisingly managed to do so without any sarcastic remark. He noticed Zak clutching at his stomach and Rook set a hand on his shoulder, just in case Zak tried to curl up. "Are you feeling nauseous or having trouble breathing at all?"

After a moment, Zak nodded. "Y-Yeah. I can't… catch my breath." He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, blinking rapidly. " _Damn_ , did that hurt…"

Rook hummed clinically. "Yes. Blunt force trauma to the abdomen tends to feel like that."

He helped Zak sit up, pressing experimentally along his spine to see if it garnered any pained reaction. When Zak merely batted his hands away and propped himself up against a tree, Rook let him. Other than the bruising that would no doubt develop, merely being out of breath for a few minutes was the best outcome for the way that Munya had been squeezing him. Any harder, and…

Well. Rook didn't really want to think about what a bloody picture that would have made. As much as he disliked Zak, Rook didn't want to see him dead. Or popped like a grape.

He was about to go rejoin Ben but didn't get the chance. A flash of green light through the leaves announced his arrival and Ben stopped next to Rook, looking down at Zak with a concerned frown.

"He is alright," Rook said before Ben could ask. "Merely winded."

A part of Rook was waiting for Ben to lecture Zak on disobeying him, on how it would have turned out fine if he had just stayed on the airship, but it didn't come. Of course it didn't.

To Rook's confusion, though, Ben suddenly looked guilty, turning away from Zak to look at the ground. "I…" He took a deep breath, then stepped closer and crouched to be at Zak's level. "Sorry," he said honestly. "Not just for letting you get hurt, although obviously I wish I had done a better job at that. And I _know,_ you don't need protection," Ben continued just as Zak was opening his mouth to protest, "but it is my job. The thing is…" He closed his eyes. "You dropped your Claw when Munya let go of you. I was so busy trying to fight him off that I didn't even notice he had grabbed it at first, but…" Ben held his hands up helplessly. "I'm sorry. He took it."

It took a moment to set in. Zak merely stared for a moment, his mouth opening and closing uselessly, and then he let out a strangled noise. Eyes widening, he began patting himself down and, when that didn't turn up any results, ran his fingers over the ground around them. "No, no, no, no…" He chanted under his breath, a desperate whisper.

"I'm sorry," Ben said again. He straightened up, biting his lip. "Do you know why Munya would have wanted it?"

"No!" Zak slammed his fists into the dirt, shaking and hunching in on himself. "No, it's completely _useless_ to him. It's just for me, it's supposed to… Help me with…" He cut himself off, sitting back on his knees and clutching at his hair. The look on Zak's face was frenzied. "I can't believe I lost it," he muttered, horrified.

Zak kept looking between the two of them as if they would have any answers. They didn't, obviously. No more words were said between them after that.

Frankly, Rook was just wondering what _any_ of it had to do with Dr. Animo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone thinks Zak is out of character, I'd like to remind you that fifteen is still a child and then direct you to literally every time he's ever spoken to Francis. Zak's pettiness knows no bounds, he will hold a grudge for years.


	7. Power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, to my fellow Secret Saturdays fans... Kur: Part Two was a really good episode, huh? _It would be a shame if it had any unfortunate consequences._
> 
> In other news, I've been thinking of opening a Ko-fi so you guys could support me and I could start doing writing commissions. Any thoughts? There's no point in opening it if no one in my audience is interested.

The dirt under his nails was insistently irritating, like a buzz in the back of his mind that refused to fade. Zak focused on that, clung to it, because if he stopped thinking about pointless and bodily things then the ringing in his ears would consume him.

He could feel it, in a way that he hadn't in years. The feeling of amusement threaded through his thoughts, a curl that he couldn't push away despite his best efforts. His hand clenched around nothing. The Hand of Tsul 'Kalu wasn't at his side. There was nothing for him to focus himself on, so the energy bubbled beneath his skin, trapped, building and feeding upon itself.

There were people talking, Zak was distantly aware of, but he couldn't make out the words. It was as though they were on the other side of a thick glass wall. Or maybe it was a cage, but he couldn't be sure, because one moment he was the one locked inside and the next it was them. And he could smell flesh burning and blood dripped between his fingers, lukewarm, and his heart was still thudding in his ears, but with excitement rather than terror.

_Is this normal?_ A voice echoed, rattling in Zak's skull like gunfire. He tried to assign a name to the blurry voice, to match the out-of-focus face, but none came.

_I do not believe so,_ another voice answered, _unless locking up and refusing to move or speak or hardly breath is an appropriate reaction to a minor abdominal injury for your species._

He tried to focus on where he was. Zak's fingers were dug into the ground, like he was trying to burrow his way into it, like he could shove the dirt into the recesses of his chest and let it smother the fire burning its way through his veins. There were trees towering around him, blocking out the moon as thoroughly as ash. The energy inside of him lashed out but Zak forced it back inside before it could latch onto anything. The sound of his own harsh breathing was setting his teeth on edge.

_We should get his parents_ , the first person said, anxious. The uncertainty in the air was palpable. A blurry hand was outstretched, hung in front of Zak as though the owner didn't know if it was okay to touch him or not. _This isn't normal. Maybe it's a condition? They would know what to do._

Parents. Zak forced himself to let out the breath that had lodged itself beneath his ribs. His eyes fluttered shut as he focused. His mom and dad. Right. He could clearly remember his mom adjusting his position as she taught him the basics of meditation. His dad was lecturing him for staying past bedtime with that fond little half-smile that meant he wasn't really angry. Doyle had never taken to babying him and Zak could easily picture the day that his uncle taught him how to throw a grenade properly (not that he had been swayed into using _real_ grenades).

And Zak could remember Fisk when they'd first become brothers, when he was still hesitant but fretting over every scrape and bump Zak got, thinly denying accusations of wanting to carry Zak for his own protection by suggesting piggy-back rides instead. Komodo's was a face as old as his parents', less parental but no less dotting, and Zak felt his presence everywhere: at the foot of his bed in the morning, invisibly tagging along with all of Zak's mischief, always being so careful of his claws even though Zak wasn't a hapless toddler anymore. Zon was chirring at him, nuzzling him, and in fights, she was so in sync with him that Zak hardly needed to utter a word, and at home, he always had time to sneak her extra fish and she had constructed another nest all on her own just outside his window for those nights when he woke up screaming.

He opened his eyes and, slowly, Zak took a breath. When it didn't burn to take into his lungs and the throbbing in his head didn't reach a crescendo, he let it out again and relaxed. Or, well, he tried to. Zak finally realized who was speaking over his head. He felt like he ought to be embarrassed, having a breakdown in front of his idol, but emotions were still so distant, no matter how he clawed at them.

Above him, Ben and Rook were arguing. About what, Zak wasn't sure. He didn't care. He was suddenly exhausted.

"I'm fine," he said abruptly. Even though his voice wasn't above normal speaking volume for him, both Ben and Rook snapped their heads around to look at Zak with wide eyes. Two stares were focused on him: one was concerned and the other was dimly curious. Zak ignored them both. "I'm fine," he repeated, because it seemed like they needed to hear it. "I'm just… surprised. Sorry."

Even to him, it sounded like a poor excuse. Ben opened his mouth and, again the words were drowned out. Not by the ringing in Zak's head, though. The airship's impressive engines announced its arrival before the floodlights did. Vaguely, Zak was taken aback to see the airship land. His parents usually avoided landing anywhere that wasn't completely clear, lest they crush any wildlife. He knew that meant that they were worried about him and probably angry, too, but Zak couldn't muster up the ability to feel guilty.

The events unfolding were more like snapshots than moments he was actively participating in. He could keep the scorching power inside of himself, most of the time, but for all his time spent meditating Zak still hadn't managed to suppress its ability to remove his thoughts from his body. His human body. His unnecessary body.

When Ben offered him a hand to help him up, Zak took it. He didn't even realize that he was shaking and stumbling until Ben put an arm around his waist and draped Zak's arm over his shoulders. Holding him up, Ben was saying something as they walked forward, saying something that Zak couldn't process. He nodded along, but that only seemed to be more concerning for Ben. Zak thought about feeling bad.

He tried to school himself, knowing that his parents were going to be darting out of the airship at any moment. And if they got one good look at his face, it was over. He hadn't kept it a secret from them for _years_ just to let them find out because he couldn't keep a straight face.

They drifted closer to the airship, their group of three, and Ben was still arguing with Rook about something medically related. Zak was pretty sure that it was about him, but the airship's platform descended and Zak forgot all about it. Dropping to the ground before the doors had even fully opened, Fisk started running toward them and Zak felt relief so sudden and sharp that he almost choked on it.

His feet were moving before he'd even decided on it, pushing away from Ben, and Zak crashed into his brother with a whimper that was quickly muffled by fur. His abdomen flared in pain. Normally, Fisk's first impulse was to chastise, not comfort, but Zak knew that Fisk had felt _it_ : that surge in power that always came whenever Zak's control slipped.

He buried his fingers into Fisk's fur, letting himself be picked up without complaint for the first time in years. Zak took shaky breaths, trying to focus on Fisk. He poured his attention into that and only that, until their hearts were beating in sync and Zak had threaded his fire through the familiar corridors of Fisk's mind. It wasn't the same as his Claw, not even close, but having something else (someone else) to siphon the power through kept the pressure from building. Zak felt like his control was slipping more and more every time he had to resort to this.

What kind of person would push the weight of the world onto their brother's shoulders?

"I lost the Claw," Zak whispered into Fisk's neck by way of an explanation. He felt Fisk tense beneath him and the guilt in his chest turned crushing. "Munya took it while I was distracted. I'm sorry."

The energy that was powerful enough to make him tremble was an ocean and Zak found himself needing an anchor, something to ground himself. He just wished that it didn't always have to be Fisk.

"Zak, what were you thinking?" His mom's voice distracted him, enough so that Zak winced and pressed closer to Fisk on impulse. But he turned his head to face his mom so that she could see he wasn't in pain or distress. She immediately relaxed, seeing his face, and Zak felt the guilt threaten to swallow him. Drew pressed her hand to his cheek, Doc hovering uncertainly behind her. "You shouldn't have left the airship without us. You know how reckless that is. We've gone over it so many times that at this point it's just…" Drew sighed, helplessly, her tone caught between worry and anger. Zak sunk his teeth into his bottom lip so hard that he tasted blood. He couldn't stand hearing that from his parents: _disappointment_. "It's just wilful disobedience, Zak. Do you not care about keeping yourself safe, or do you not respect us?"

There was frustration there. Hopelessness, too. Zak opened his mouth and was struck with the realization that he couldn't _breathe_ , let alone talk. He looked into his mom's eyes, saw angry tears beginning to gather there, and had to look away. He wet his lips, throat suddenly tight, and mumbled, "I'm sorry." It wasn't as though he could tell her the truth.

He thought that his mom was about to start screaming. Drew opened her mouth and was cut off before she could choke out so much as a syllable. Doc's hand came down on her shoulder, gently, and he gave his wife a reassuring squeeze. "We should save that conversation for someplace more private," he muttered, eyes darting toward Rook and Ben. They had looked away, out of politeness, but being reminded of each other's presence seemed to bring a new wave of awkwardness.

Zak had forgotten that they were there, too. All he felt was the desperate clawing to maintain a grip on his body, Fisk's arms curled protectively around him, and his parents' disappointment sinking like a stone in his stomach.

Sensing the tension building, Ben politely cleared his throat. "I, um, wanted to apologize," he said carefully. "I let Munya get away with Zak's Claw. I don't know why he wanted it, but…" Ben shrugged helplessly as Doc and Drew exchanged uneasy glances. "He hurt Zak, too," Ben added and Zak immediately went rigid. "Munya grabbed him around the waist and Rook thinks there could be some bruising, but nothing serious."

" _What_?" At least Drew had stopped looking close to the end of her rope. Zak would take her being fussy over angry any day. His mom's eyes widened as she tried to push Zak's shirt up, feeling for any tenderness. "How did that happen? Zak, are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

She had always worried about him, but it had gotten so much worse after what happened to Argost, that fateful day two years ago. Zak swallowed the acidic knowledge that he had no one except for himself to blame.

" _I didn't expect to survive it,"_ he'd said to his whole family after waking up in the airship's medical ward, after three minutes where his heart refused to beat and his lungs wouldn't draw air, after his family agonized themselves over the possibility that he might not wake up at all. He hadn't understood, at the time, how his parents would feel about the knowledge of his suicide mission. Looking back, Zak wished that he had said something else. _Anything_ else.

Normally, Zak would insist that he was fine and pushing aside his mom's well-meaning questions, but he was so tired. There was impatience gnawing at the back of his mind, an anticipation that he wanted nothing to do with.

"We should at least move this to the medical ward," Doc said firmly, drawing Drew away from Zak. As Fisk began to carry him back toward the airship, Zak shot his dad a grateful smile.

It was quiet when they all went into the airship, but Zak hadn't expected anyone to feel up to talking. A part of him wondered about what this meant for the case, about how any of it tied in Dr. Animo escaping from prison, but the part of Zak that cared was small and easy to forget in the rest of his swirling thoughts.

He was surprised when he felt Fisk moving to set him down. Zak hadn't even realized that they were in the infirmary. The idea of another medical examination was more than a little annoying, but his frustration with all of his parents' dotting was smothered swiftly by fear. Fisk started to retract his hands and, even though Zak was perfectly stable with the examination table beneath him, he latched onto Fisk's hand and squeezed as hard as he would allow.

(The thought that Zak could break his brother's hand easily, betray the appearance of a scrawny teenage boy on a stray whim, came and went with a wince.)

"Don't let go," he said so lowly that it came out like a hiss. Zak blanched at his own behavior. "Please." He hated the desperate lilt in his voice.

But Fisk only nodded, mumbling something that Zak didn't catch. He hovered by Zak's side, like an uncertain shadow, and didn't let go. It had to look weird to his parents and to their guests, but suddenly Zak couldn't care less about how he was embarrassing himself in front of his idol.

It was obvious that Drew wanted to ask him questions, but she must have figured that it wasn't the right time because she only sighed and again reached for Zak's shirt. While his mom's careful fingers probed his abdomen, looking for bruising or soreness, Zak watched his dad talk to Ben and Rook. Probably about the details of the fight, if he had to guess. Ben looked upset, which was understandable. Watching their lips move and trying to read their body language was a lot easier than attempting to listen to what they were saying. Focusing on his breathing, Zak managed to get himself calmed down, squeezing Fisk's hand like a lifeline.

Not for the first time, he wondered if the power would be easier to control if Zak let it out more often. It was so much stronger than it had ever been, like it had been ripped out of wherever he had locked it away as a child and then settled back into him like a second layer of skin. But then his parents might notice or, worse, _anyone_ might notice.

He clenched his jaw and steadied his resolve. All he had to do was find Munya and get the Hand of Tsul 'Kalu back. Then he could go back to giving his parents what they wanted, what they _needed_ : a normal life, a normal son.

"You seem fine." Drew pulled back, taking the warmth that seeped through her gloves with her. Zak swallowed the childish urge to pull her closer. "I don't think anything is damaged internally, but that bruising is going to get worse. It's going to be really tender in the morning." His mom frowned, all traces of a lecture wiped from her face. "You should go lay down anyway, Zak. You look exhausted, sweetie. A nap will do you good."

"No!" Zak winced at his own volume and hastened to correct himself. "I mean, uh, I feel fine! You said so yourself. And I really want to focus on finding Munya and getting the Claw back." He shot a guilty look toward his dad — the guilt was genuine, but the reason behind it wasn't. "I know that you spent a long time making it, dad."

Unfortunately, it seemed like Doc wasn't going to side with him. His dad's frown tightened. "Zak," he said carefully, in that tone that meant he knew Zak wasn't going to like what he had to say, "your mother and I think it's better we leave this case to the professionals. We're going to fly Ben and Rook back to where they left their vehicle. It's the least we can do after all this trouble. But that's where this ends."

" _What_?" Zak's eyes widened. Laughter was ringing in his ears, slamming at the back of his skull like the Serpent was rattling the bars of its cage. The monster beneath his skin was _enjoying_ it, watching Zak's helplessness. "No, you— you can't! This isn't fair! I— This is—!"

"That is _final_ ," Drew cut in sharply. "Zak, this isn't your fight and it's not your case, either. You aren't an officer, you aren't even an _adult_! I expect you to go to your room as soon as we're done here and rest there for the remainder of the night. And in the morning, we're going to discuss punishments for your behavior today."

If it was possible, Zak's jaw would have been on the floor. "Now I'm being _punished_?" He looked between his mom and dad frantically, but there was no support to be gained from either of them. His eyes landed on Ben and his mouth opened. Nothing came out. Zak was at a loss for what to say.

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Ben nonetheless stepped a little closer. Behind him, Rook had apparently lost interest in the conversation and was doing something with his Plumber badge. "Listen, Zak…" Ben took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Really. I still consider you a friend, so I think I'd be a pretty bad friend if I let you go into this after what happened today. You could've been seriously hurt. That's the last thing that I want. Your parents are right," he admitted, looking away. "This isn't your fight. I'll get your Claw back, I promise. But you should stay here where it's safe and let me handle it."

If Zak had been in his own head, he might have cried. There was pressure behind his eyes, but he recognized it as flames, not tears. He still couldn't think of how to respond, so he settled for closing his mouth and staying silent. The mocking voice in his head was only getting louder. Maybe Fisk could sense that because he gave Zak's hand a squeeze and set a hand on his shoulder.

" _Ryulgt?"_ Fisk asked softly, a questioning growl rumbling from his throat.

Zak closed his eyes and managed a nod. "I'm fine," he reassured his brother. Then, forcing himself to look at Ben, he said, "It's alright. I understand."

His parents didn't look convinced, sharing questioning glances. Then Doc sighed and nodded. "Alright, then, I'm going to start the engines and head us back toward the warehouse district." He pressed a kiss to Drew's cheek and set a hand on Zak's knee. "Take it easy," Doc reminded him gently. Not trusting himself to speak, Zak settled for nodding and watched his dad leave the room, the doors sliding shut automatically behind him.

Drew cupped Zak's face, brushing his unruly hair out of the way to gaze at him fondly. "We should get you to your room," she said after a moment, and there was something so profoundly sad in her words that Zak wished the floor would open up and swallow him so he never had to see his mom like that again.

"One moment, please." Apparently finished with whatever he had been doing, Rook lowered his Plumbers' badge and stepped up to them. Zak didn't notice the way that Rook positioned Ben just behind him and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "If we may, I would like a moment to speak to Zak about the case. Alone." Rook's lips were pressed into a thin, displeased line. "It will not take long."

Fisk growled, disagreeing vehemently, and Drew straightened up. Her expression was flat. "Are you accusing my son of being involved somehow?" She asked.

Ben laughed nervously, elbowing Rook out of the way to hold his hands up in surrender. "Of course not! We were just going, actually," he reassured her, shooting Rook a look that said " _what the fuck do you think you're doing?"_

"No, we were not," Rook corrected him pleasantly. "I only wish to speak to Zak privately. This is not an interrogation."

For some reason, Zak didn't believe him. But he knew that his mom and Fisk weren't going to back down — his dad was the only sensible one, and he had just left — so Zak sighed. As much as it pained him, he let go of Fisk's hand and shrugged off the grip on his shoulder. He felt isolated and cold, but if this was what it took to get Rook off of his back, then he could do it.

"It's fine," Zak bit out, even though it wasn't. "It'll just be a few minutes, then I'll go to bed, mom," he lied. He had no intention of sleeping any time soon. Not until he could be sure that, when he woke up, he would still be himself.

Drew still didn't seem convinced but, after a moment, she nodded anyway. "Alright," she agreed. "If you're sure, kiddo. Just… don't push yourself." She pressed a kiss to the tuft of white hair on the front of his head and pulled away, taking Fisk by the hand. "Come on," she encouraged him. "We should go, Fiskerton."

He hesitated, looking at Zak with an unasked question in his eyes. Zak forced himself to smile and hoped that it didn't look as strained as he felt. "I'll be alright for a few minutes," he reassured, trying his best to sound lighthearted.

Fisk rolled his eyes, unimpressed, but Drew was still tugging on his hand so he let himself be led away. Zak waved after them cheekily but, as soon as the door was shut behind them, his smile dropped. He looked over at Ben and Rook warily. It was fine. He could manage a conversation without clinging to his brother like he was a teddy bear. They wouldn't notice anything was wrong.

Beneath him, Zak felt the airship shake as it began to take off. He used that to reassure himself. The airship was fast. As much as he didn't want to see Ben go, it would only be a few more minutes.

After a moment, Ben elbowed Rook impatiently. "Well?" He prompted, gesturing to Zak. "What are these interrogation questions you're so desperate to ask?"

"It is not an interrogation," Rook responded stiffly. His gaze seemed to pin Zak in place and he opened his mouth. "Do you know a man named Doyle Blackwell?"

Zak froze. Which, on second thought, was probably all the confirmation that Rook needed. Normally, Zak was all too happy to hear that name, but something in Rook's expression told him that the name wasn't being mentioned for a good reason.

"Why do you want to know something like that?" Zak settled on.

Rook arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. "So I can take that as a yes?"

Much as he wanted to deny it, Zak couldn't. He grimaced. "Fine." Zak sighed. "Doyle is my uncle, on mom's side. Why does it matter?"

Come to think of it, how had Rook even managed to dig up that name? Doyle had a dozen fake IDs for a reason. He even had poorly-made, obviously fake ones so that, when he was inevitably caught, he could confess to one of his more thoroughly-constructed but equally fake identities.

As if being able to read Zak's thoughts, Rook scowled. "Yes, I had quite a difficult time finding a man who seems to have spent his entire life attempting to disappear. For all the names he has, the real one hardly matters. Doyle Blackwell has a birth certificate and immunization records and a social security number he has not ever used, despite being far past the age where he should have. Aside from those base documents, it is as if he does not exist at all."

Anger made Zak's face hot, but he couldn't think of anything to say to that. He'd known that Doyle was a criminal for longer than he'd known the man was even his uncle. It didn't surprise Zak, he just wanted to know why Rook seemed to care so much.

"So?" Zak shot back. "He had a complicated past."

It wasn't as though some run-down orphanage in the Himalayan Mountains was going to be up-to-date on all the paperwork that the American government required for citizens. After what happened to Zak's grandparents that day, what ended up separating his mom and uncle until they met again as adults, it was practically expected that Doyle's passport and official records had been lost. For all intents and purposes, he had become a non-person, and it was no wonder that the effects were still felt more than two decades later.

Of course, Zak knew that Doyle's fake passports and IDs came from his less-than-legal activities, not as any byproduct of his broken childhood, but still. He didn't like to think about the things that his uncle had done in the past.

Next to Rook, Ben looked between the two of them with uncertainty. Rook ignored his partner's reservations and pulled out his Plumber badge. " _So_?" Rook repeated sarcastically. He pulled up a screen that seemed to show some official documents and scowled. "Doyle Blackwell is an international criminal with a bounty on his head in fourteen different countries. He had a rap sheet as long as my arm. His crimes include, but are not limited to: blackmail, extortion, forgery, kidnapping, treason, grand theft, possession of illegal drugs, burglary, arson, larceny, aggravated assault, murder, mansla—"

"Woah!" Alarmed, Ben suddenly reached over and clamped a hand over Rook's mouth. Zak was grateful, because if Rook had continued, he felt as though his blood would have boiled out of his body. Ben laughed, too loud and too forced to do anything to lessen the tension in the room. "I, uh, think that's enough, Rook. We get it." When he was sure that Rook wouldn't continue, Ben lowered his hand. He looked unsure, glancing at Zak. "Those things are all horrible…" Ben said slowly, "...but why are you fixating on this? You promised me that you would drop this weird obsession with their family at least until we captured Dr. Animo. That has to take priority, right?"

Ben was trying to be reasonable. Zak could have appreciated that better if he wasn't so furious at Rook, at his _audacity_.

(And the laughter in his head became words. They threaded through his thoughts, draping over his subconscious like a warm embrace. " _ **He is a fool,"**_ the voice that was and wasn't Zak's — the voice that belonged to the Serpent — whispered. " _ **They would not make such presumptions if they knew what they were speaking to."**_ Maybe the voice was right, but Zak ignored it desperately.)

"Not when they are harboring an obviously dangerous criminal, and have for years!" Rook said, very close to a shout. He walked past Ben to approach Zak, close enough that it was getting difficult to resist the urge to punch him. "There is an arrest on your record. Something happened in a small town in England four years ago. What was it?"

Zak blinked — for a moment, he was at a complete loss. Then the memory of what happened came rushing back to him and he grinned, muffling a laugh behind his hand. "Oh, yeah. That was hilarious," he said jokingly. "We were in the area looking for a cryptid that was apparently kidnapping people. Some old guy on the street started ranting and raving to my parents about what vultures they were, probably assuming they were journalists or something. Then Doyle hung the guy upside-down by the ankle and threatened to put a grenade down his pants if he didn't give us actual information." He laughed again but, when no one joined in, Zak quieted himself. His smile turned strained. "I, uh, guess you had to be there." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, after that the constable came up to us and demanded that we leave, so Doyle grabbed his baton, whistle, and hat and started mocking him. Mom and dad weren't happy, but we got put in a holding cell for the night and got to see the cryptid in action, so it wasn't a total loss," Zak said. "Man, it was boring in there, though."

His answer seemed to surprise Ben, but then he sighed, turning to Rook. "See, dude? It's fine. Zak and his family didn't do anything wrong. And Doyle sounds like…" Ben trailed off for a moment, "...he has some questionable moral standards, sure, but if Zak says he's changed, then I believe him. It's nothing worse than what Kevin has done." The corner of his mouth twitched up into a faint smile. "I mean, Kevin did try to kill me routinely when we were kids and I met him again while he was in the middle of an illegal weapons deal. So, you know." He shrugged.

Privately, Zak bit back a smile. He had a penchant for making friends with people who tried to kill, too. And for turning friends into people that tried to kill him, funnily enough. Although, he wasn't sure if he could count Francis or Dr. Beeman as having ever been his friends. Allies, maybe. He had seen clips of Kevin fighting online and heard plenty of rumors about the guy, too. Zak wanted to meet him one day.

Rook looked up at the ceiling like he was praying for patience and swallowed a sigh. "You cannot use Kevin as an example for every criminal."

"Fine, then what about Tetrax?" Ben said, his light-hearted tone from just a few seconds ago replaced by one of frustration. "Or Helen or Manny or Charmcaster or Argit? I can go on and _on_ , Rook. Why are you being so... hypocritical?"

The accusation made Rook bristle. There was no doubt in Zak's mind that Rook had turned red beneath his fur. "Doyle Blackwell has not even served time in prison!" He insisted, as if that mattered at all.

"Why would he need to?" Zak argued. "Prison is for people who can't or won't change! And Doyle has. He works every day to be a good person!"

"Do you mean that?" Ben asked, staring at Zak with an intensity that surprised him. "That he's trying to be a good person, I mean. Genuine change is hard for people to manage."

The question caught Zak off-guard, but he didn't take offense to it. There was something honest about Ben that made it difficult to twist his intentions. "Yes," he said without hesitation. "Doyle risked his life for me, several times. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

He was reminded of a disastrous training exercise they went on, just the two of them, to an abandoned resort in the Canadian mountains. Zak remembered Doyle promising him that he had an emergency air supply that lasted four hours, and he remembered dragging Doyle out of the lake while his uncle was gasping for breath. Four hours? It had barely been thirty minutes. But that hadn't mattered to Doyle, because he had just said whatever would get Zak to leave, to get himself to safety.

Doyle had been ready to die that day, for him. Zak wasn't proud of how long he spent thinking about it.

"Then that's settled," Ben said resolutely. "Forget about what he's done in the past, Rook. People can change. Stop being petty." There was a warning in the way his eyes narrowed, like Rook ought to back down, but that wasn't what happened. Instead, Rook bared his teeth and went all in.

"Fine!" Rook snapped. He scowled, typing a few more things into his Plumber badge to bring up what looked like a clip from some news show. Ignoring Ben, he seemed only to have eyes for Zak. "Since you have the perfect excuse to wave all of these problems away, I trust you will have no issue explaining _this_."

He pressed play and, for a moment, Zak merely squinted at the blurry footage with confusion. It looked like cryptids were on screen, but what was Rook getting at? Then the audio started playing and something cold and heavy settled in Zak's gut. _"It may look like tabloid footage,"_ a woman was saying, " _but this is very real."_ The video playing was all too familiar. Zak saw _himself_ , three years ago, the age of twelve and standing in the streets of Manhattan in broad daylight. Cryptids rampaged around him, of every size and color and ability, all of them reptilian. Their eyes were glowing bright orange and Zak stood in the midst of it all, confident and in control as his eyes leaked flames and another city block went up in smoke. " _According to eyewitnesses, the boy seemed to actually control the sewer snakes, spurring them onto their afternoon rampage. Police and homeland security officials are looking for any information on the bizarre attack."_

That was enough. Rook paused the video, but the memories continued to play in Zak's mind. He couldn't think of anything to say, standing there dumbly with his mouth hanging open. He remembered it all with perfect clarity, like it had been burned into the backs of his eyes. The throngs of people offered to him as a sacrifice, the agony he had been in trying to make all of it _stop_ , his parents and Komodo crushed beneath a building and all Zak could do was watch as they were nearly—!

"Zak." The sound of his name, said so gently, jerked him out of the memory. Zak blinked and found himself locking eyes with Ben, his expression concerned and more than a little confused. "What was that?" He pointed at Rook, who was still holding the Plumber badge and not looking at Zak. "Can you tell us what you were doing? And _how_ you were doing it?"

No. He couldn't. There was no explanation Zak could give other than the truth, and the truth was the one thing that he couldn't say. It had been so long since he'd had to give an explanation, Zak wasn't sure where to begin or if he could even stumble his way through the whole story.

But Ben _knew_. He had seen Zak using his powers, he knew what Zak was capable of. And the look on Ben's face... it was like he wasn't sure who he was talking to anymore.

"I…" Zak took a breath that sounded more like a wheeze. "I need to go."

Without waiting for a response, he dropped off of the examination table and left. Zak felt the world twist under his feet, but he stumbled into the hallway without looking back. He could hear Ben and Rook's voices twisting together as an argument broke out, forming words that he couldn't understand. The noise cut off sharply when the doors closed behind Zak and his shoulders sagged as the weight of the tension left him.

His stomach heaved and Zak propped himself up against the wall, bending over to try and calm his racing heart, his fluttering breaths, his entire body rebelling against him. He was trying so desperately to keep everything _in_ , but the pressure was so intense that he thought he might explode. The Serpent's laughter was starting to sound like a countdown and the headache behind his eyes had turned piercing.

Zak's legs trembled, threatening to give out. His eyes flashed, orange and white and _burning_ , flames dripping down his face like tears. He could feel Fisk and Komodo, their energy familiar and easy to latch onto. Outside of the airship, far beneath them, he felt insects and primates and all sorts of horrors in-between. Their energies were getting closer and Zak realized with a start that the airship was _landing_. And suddenly, there was nothing that he needed more than to be outside. The steel walls were closing in on him, on the body that felt like it belonged to someone else, and Zak couldn't _breathe._

He let muscle memory take him down the hall, toward the entrance bay of the airship. At some point, Zak had started running. It didn't matter how fast he was or how hard to pushed himself, though: the Serpent was always right at his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to end this chapter here, but it got too long. The next chapter will probably be shorter, but eventful. Stay tuned!
> 
> I took a lot of creative liberties with Zak's powers since he doesn't describe what they're like too often in the show. It's really fun writing them. For those who haven't seen The Secret Saturdays in its entirety, this is your last chance to turn back before you start crossing into Major Spoilers territory.
> 
> I've kind of reworked how Zak's powers work after The Incident. I'll definitely have an in-universe explanation or some rambling bits I put in the author's notes coming soon!


	8. Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't make a habit out of asking for reviews, but I've had a shitty last few days, honestly. My laptop broke so I've barely been able to get any writing done (updating this fic with my phone is so annoying) and I've had personal issues going on lately, besides. So I'd appreciate any sort of nice comment if you guys like this chapter. I'm really insecure about this one, so it would be reassuring. 
> 
> Anyway, on with the story.

"Nice going, Rook," Ben said with the most unimpressed voice he could muster. "So much for this "not being an interrogation," huh? You made him run out of the room!"

Rook rolled his eyes. He had brought up the video of that downtown rampage on his Plumber badge again and was watching it with the sound muted. "If this had been an interrogation, the door would have been locked," he replied.

Ben rubbed his temples to ward off the coming headache. He felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation and tried to smooth it down to no avail. "That's not the point, Rook. You kept accusing him of breaking the law, and— and whatever that video is!" He gestured at the projection still playing and hesitated, staring at it a moment longer. "...What do you think that is?"

A thoughtful frown came to Rook's face. Clearly, he had been trying to piece together that exact thing. "I am not sure. I think that it is a form of animal manipulation, but these are like no animals I have ever seen, even on Earth. And that would not account for the glowing eyes nor the rampage. Destroying downtown does not seem like something Zak would do."

"You think?" Ben scoffed. He snatched the Plumber badge from Rook and played the video back again, staring at it. Zak looked a lot younger in the footage. It must have been two or three years old. But if he could communicate with animals, why would he keep that a secret? It seemed like something that would be very helpful on a mission to track down missing cryptids. Ben's eyes widened. "These aren't normal animals, Rook. These are all cryptids. They have to be, I mean— I've never seen anything like these before. I wonder why they're all serpentine, though? That seems… specific."

The video certainly made for a spectacle. Zak's eyes were glowing and, strangely enough, so was the head of his weapon. He had called it the Claw, hadn't he? All of the cryptids destroying the city and terrorizing people in the video were snake-like, from what looked like a giant tadpole with legs and a mouth full of fangs, to a small army of nagas. A part of Ben was geeking out because, wow, _nagas were real_ , but a bigger part of him was wondering what all of these cryptids were doing out in broad daylight trying to crush everything in sight and why Zak was able to control them. Maybe he was bad at it? That would explain why they seemed to be on a rampage and why Zak wouldn't want to talk about it, but that still didn't sit right with Ben.

"We still need to be focusing on finding Animo," Ben said at last, handing Rook the Plumber badge again. "Whatever this is… it's weird, sure, but it's not illegal and it's not really any of our business." He paused. "Zak would make a good ally, though. We should try to talk to him again — _in a less confrontational way_ — when all of this is over. Besides, you felt the ship land. I think we should go before we upset his parents any more than we already have."

That earned him a skeptical eyebrow raise from Rook. "What makes you think that his parents are upset?"

The door to the medical ward swung open and Drew Saturday entered the room, Doc hot on her heels. "Drew—" he started to say, his tone placating even though he was scowling.

His wife ignored him, steaming rolling his attempts at peace by stopping a few feet in front of Ben and Rook and demanding, "What did you say to Zak?" She looked between both of them with distaste. "Did you accuse him of something? I left him alone with you because I assumed that he saw something that could be useful to the case, not so you could harass him! Minors are entitled to be interviewed with their parents in legal matters or, at the very least, a lawyer. I don't know what kind of laws the Plumbers are operating under, but I would assume that treating children with basic dignity was universal!"

Ben opened his mouth to attempt to say something comforting, but Rook beat him to it. "It was not a formal interrogation of an apprehended suspect so, legally, we have not done anything wrong. Anything we asked him, he was free to ignore. I apologize if he was upset by what we said, but they were standard questions based on knowledge accessible to anyone who digs for long enough."

That was the wrong thing to say. And Ben could see Rook reaching for his badge, probably to ask Doc and Drew about the video they saw. Ben snatched it from Rook's hand and shoved it into his back pocket without looking away from Drew. An anxious smile came to his face as she turned red with anger. "I really am sorry for what happened," Ben said quickly. "I'm not even sure what set Zak off. Can we make it up to you, somehow? It really was just a few questions. We weren't accusing him of anything."

Well, Rook had been doing plenty of accusing, but Ben wasn't going to throw Rook under the bus by saying that. He got the feeling that it wouldn't have helped, either.

"I think you boys have done enough," Doc said shortly. He set a hand on Drew's shoulder, rubbing little circles into her arm with his thumb. It didn't do much to smooth out her glare, but the tense set of her shoulders relaxed some. "We've landed. I think that you should leave. And, Drew, we should go find Zak before he gets into any trouble."

The smart thing to do was leave. But Ben perked up and, before he was even aware of it, found himself asking, "Find him? I thought he was still on the airship."

Doc hesitated. He shared a look with Drew, a conversation passing between their narrowed eyes and down turned lips before he sighed and turned back to Ben. "As soon as we landed, one of the emergency exit doors was opened. This ship has plenty of security cameras, so it wasn't a mystery who opened it." He grimaced. "Zak can take care of himself for the most part, but this is an abandoned lumber mill. I don't like the idea of him running around alone in the dark. If he gets hurt, it could take us hours to find him and get help."

His explanation wasn't helping Drew relax. As Ben watched, she was turning pale, lips pressed so thin that they practically disappeared. She set a hand over Doc's where he was still grabbing her shoulder and her grip looked tight enough to bruise. Ben said nothing. He knew parents could be overprotective, but this seemed… excessive. Zak was probably just getting some fresh air. What was the worst that could happen to him?

What were his parents so scared of?

"We'll help you look," Ben offered. "Rook has his TRUK, so he'll cover ground fast. And if you have something of Zak's, I can use one of my alien forms to find him." He brandished the Omnitrix with what he hoped looked like a confident grin. Ben was also hoping to have a minute or two alone with Zak to apologize. He considered Zak a friend and didn't want to leave their first meeting with him thinking that Ben was okay with the way that Rook pushed him.

Maybe it hadn't been an interrogation. But it certainly hadn't been very nice, either, and Zak and his family had done nothing to deserve Rook's bad attitude.

It took a moment for Zak's parents to decide. Ben knew that they had doubts about him and Rook but, evidently, their concern for Zak outweighed any personal dislike they had. Drew sighed out of her nose and, looking strained, nodded. "Alright. Ben, you can come with me. I'll get you something of Zak's. Rook, you can find your truck in the dark, can't you?" When Rook nodded, looking less-than-pleased (but, admittedly, still cooperating without complaint), Drew gestured for Ben to follow her. "Doc will show you out, Rook. And Ben, we'll go to Zak's room."

Ben chose not to comment on the blatant distrust. Given the circumstances, he couldn't blame her. So he let Zak's parents lead them out of the medical ward and, when their backs turned, grabbed Rook by the wrist. Ben gave him a pointed glare as he begrudgingly handed his partner's Plumber badge back over and trusted Rook to get the message. Getting upset and letting emotions overrule logic was more Ben's thing than Rook's, and he was getting sick of his partner behaving so weirdly. What had Zak done to piss him off? Rook had been unhappy with the Saturday family since they first met.

He thought about trying to make conversation with Drew while they walked but, honestly, it seemed better if Ben left her alone. He didn't know how to talk to her and he didn't want to risk upsetting her more. Ben wasn't a parent (well, not an _active_ one, anyway) and he couldn't relate well-enough to comfort her. Besides, Drew didn't seem like the "needed comforting" type. He was willing to bet that she was going to be upset and worried until they found Zak, at which point she was going to dish out the grounding of a lifetime.

When they got to Zak's room, Drew unlocked it by typing a code into the little panel next to the door. It slid open for them and Ben stepped in after her. Then he froze. He blinked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief as he looked around the room. It was less of a bedroom and more of a _Ben 10_ merchandise storage closet. The sheets had Ben's face on them, there was a replica Omnitrix on the dresser, and there was an unofficial poster with surprisingly high-quality photos of some of his aliens with strengths and weaknesses listed. And that was only a few things. The walls could have been painted green and it wouldn't have made much of a difference to the room's coloring.

Despite the situation, a fond little smile came to Drew's face. She chuckled, drawing Ben's attention over to her. "You should see his bedroom at our house," she said, looking around. "He really is a huge fan. I just wish he could have met you under better circumstances."

There was a pang of guilt in his chest as Ben nodded. "Yeah. Me, too," he agreed.

Drew's smile dropped and she cleared her throat. "Is there anything specific that you need? Clothes? Something he held recently?"

Remembering himself, Ben pulled his thoughts back into order and shook his head. "No. Actually, just being in here is fine." He reached for the Omnitrix and paused, giving Drew an awkward smile. "Don't freak out. I've still got full control as an alien, even if I look animalistic."

Given Drew's job description and what Ben had seen of her family's work so far, he got the feeling that he had nothing to worry about. But it didn't hurt to be safe.

It took a few seconds for Ben to find the alien he wanted, then he pressed down on the Omnitrix with a surge of green light. He automatically doubled over onto all-fours as his eyes shrunk back into his skull. Muscle growth gave him forearms and thighs as thick as his head and a barrel chest to match his wider neck. Ben felt his ears recede into his head, his nose flattening and disappearing, thick hair growing over every inch of his body. His nails became claws that dug into the carpet, tearing little grooves as he rested his weight on his hind legs and dribbled drool from his open mouth, filled with a heavy tongue and rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Wildmutt sniffed the air. The flaps on the side of his neck flared as he took in information. Only one other person in the room. Not a threat. He smelled fear and ignored it. There was a task to be handled first.

A single scent hung heavy in the room. It was made of several unique identifying factors. Generic travel body wash. Dirt. Pine trees. Wet animal. Wildmutt swung his head toward the door and growled lowly. The smell of fear increased. He didn't care. The door was open and Wildmutt bounded through it. His paws ached on the metal floor as he took off down the hall.

The smell was weaker outside of the room. There were a few areas that called to him with a more intense scent but they were older and Wildmutt was following a fresh trail.

It was easy to get outside with the exit ramp lowered. Wildmutt skidded into the dirt and swung his head around. Outside was a whole different beast compared to the ship. Everything smelled so strongly that it was hard to pick out the scent he had been following. It clung to low-hanging branches and trampled foliage. Wildmutt took off after it without grace.

The buildings had no special smell of their own. It was the lack of smell that carved out a place for them. They were the spaces between dirt and pine where Wildmutt could sense nothing at all. He twisted and turned between them as his target drew nearer and nearer.

And then he skidded to a turned the corner around a building much more slowly and found what he had been looking for. Zak was crouched between two of them with his head in his hands. Wildmutt growled inquisitively. There was the taste of unease in the air. A flickering sense of wrongness told Wildmutt that he should turn and leave. Zak was trembling so badly that it was difficult to tell where his skin ended and the air began.

The noise he made got Zak's attention. He lifted his head and wiped at his eyes before turning to Wildmutt. There was an initial spike of fear as Zak took him in. His voice cracked when he tried to speak so he cleared his throat and made another attempt. "Ben? Is that you?" His voice came through garbled.

Ben responded with the sound of the Omnitrix powering down. He straightened himself up and brushed his clothes off, giving a little smile. "Yeah. Sorry if I startled you. Wildmutt isn't pretty, but he's my best tracker." Zak said nothing, he just continued to stare. Ben frowned and took a step closer. "Are you alright?"

Zak's mouth twisted into an unpleasant grimace. He didn't stand up, but he unfolded himself to stretch his legs out in front of him and lean back on his palms. His fingers dug into the dirt like he was hanging on for dear life. "I'm fine," he lied, not even attempting to make eye contact. "Sorry about running off. My parents are probably pissed. What Rook said about Doyle just really got to me and I needed some fresh air."

Damnit. Ben was horrible at being comforting. He wished that Gwen was there. She was better with this stuff than he was, even if it usually ended with him feeling like he'd just talked to a therapist instead of his cousin. Still, Ben walked over to Zak and sat down next to him. He didn't make an attempt to touch Zak, not wanting to upset him further. "Maybe, but something tells me you're upset about more than that. Do you wanna talk about it?" When Zak's only response was to keep looking at the ground, Ben took a guess at saying, "Is it about what we saw in that video Rook pulled up?"

He knew that he was right when Zak flinched. Bingo. "...Kind of," Zak said carefully. He glanced over at Ben. "It's sort of a long story."

Ben smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring. "I've got as long as you need," he offered, and he meant it. It wasn't just out of personal curiosity although, yes, that played a role. He saw a lot of himself in Zak, mostly in how shaken up he looked. Ben had felt that way when he was ten-years-old, trying to get to sleep the night after Vilgax had dragged him onto an alien warship and nearly cut off his arm. He didn't know what was bad enough to give Zak a haunted look like that, but Ben had forced himself to go through it alone, and he didn't want to wish that on his new friend.

It seemed like Zak was going to talk to him. He opened his mouth but didn't get the chance to get out so much as a syllable. A third voice cut through the quiet. "I am sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid we have some unfinished business."

Immediately, Ben was on his feet. He whirled around to where the voice had come from and found himself craning his head up, toward a figure crouched on the roof of one of the buildings next to them. He positioned himself between whoever it was and Zak, narrowing his eyes. The voice wasn't familiar, but that didn't mean it could be trusted. "Who are you?" Ben demanded, hand hovering over the Omnitrix.

The figure straightened up, hands folded behind his back politely. The light of the moon revealed a body covered in hair and Ben had to do a double-take. For someone so well-spoken, he had expected a person, not… an ape. It had orange fur and a flat face and soft eyes that didn't match its harsh words. Ben risked a glance at Zak, who had gotten to his feet, but he seemed just as confused as Ben was.

"Uh, do I know you?" Ben tried. He was sure that he would have remembered trying to be killed by an ape. It was wearing a metallic headband riddled with little knobs and displays, and _that_ looked familiar, but Ben couldn't place why.

"No," the ape — some sort of sasquatch, maybe? — said. "You both would be more familiar with my associate, Dr. Animo."

Ben's eyes widened. That explained the headband, at least. He had almost started to relax, but just as quickly fell back into a defensive stance. He took a step back, ushering Zak to move with him. "And what do you want?" He shot back, much less friendly now.

"I have what I want already," the ape replied. He extended a polite nod of the head toward Zak, who somehow only seemed more confused. "Thank you, and I apologize for what is to come, _Nergal_."

It took a moment for Ben to realize that the funny word on the end of that sentence was supposed to be a name and that it was being applied to Zak. And it took him even longer to realize that Zak had taken a step back in response.

"Don't call me that," Zak said shallowly. It probably would have been more threatening if he didn't sound on the verge of making a break for it. He was breathing shallowly, eyes darting over to Ben as though he'd been caught in a lie. "I'm not— You couldn't— how do you _know_?" He asked, voice desperate.

The ape smiled sadly. Rather than answer, it said again, "I have what I want already. This is just about tying up loose ends." It reached up and pressed one of the buttons on the headband it was wearing. "Again, I am sorry. But we can't have you getting in the way." It was looking at Ben, specifically, during that last part. There was a sick, sinking feeling in his gut.

His first instinct was to call Rook for backup, but Ben didn't get the chance. His hand was on the Omnitrix, hovering between dialing in an alien and calling Rook, when he was distracted by movement on either side of the alley.

The smell of sulfur hit Ben first, then the glowing red eyes of the chupacabras. It matched the bands clamped around the animal's heads, pulsing red in time with the one that the ape in charge was wearing. Ben had seen enough of Animo's handiwork to understand the correlation there and his first priority was getting that thing away from the ape.

But it didn't end with the chupacabras. Ben saw five of them, then eight, then a dozen, six on either side. And behind them came creatures that he was sure had to be hallucinations. There was a giant cat with wolf-like fur and a mournful expression, a tail twice as long as its body. There was a creature with a face like an ancient dragon and a triangular body, a set of arms and legs on each end. One of them looked like a velociraptor, feathered and with a flap of skin between its forearms and its body. In the back, Ben could spot several different bigfoots and sasquatches and whatever else they were called. That accounted for those sightings, then. And every single one of them was wearing an identical headband, staring directly forward with blank eyes.

Zak was gripping his shoulder, but not out of fear. He wasn't leaning away, either. He was soaking in each and every cryptid with recognition in his eyes. "How did he even manage to find a Whintosser?" He muttered, sounding stunned.

Against so many animals that he couldn't name and didn't know the weaknesses of, Ben's hand hovered over the Omnitrix uncertainly. He knew that he only had a few seconds, give or take, until the animals pounced. And then it would be a slaughter. "Uh, any advice?" Ben tried, risking a glance at Zak.

He had the audacity to look affronted. "Are you crazy? They're being controlled, you can't just hurt them!"

Ben wasn't an overly violent person, but damn, he hated pacifists and animal lovers. And animal-loving pacifists.

Before he could even begin to explain that these cryptids _were going to kill them_ and he _wouldn't kill them, just knock them out_ , there was a snarl and movement coming from the left. Ben panicked and hit the Omnitrix.

His bones softened, melding into his skin until the two were one and the same. His chest expanded and filled itself with vines, twisting up and through his neck to give him a head and face. Heat raced down his spine and tingled at his fingertips. As Swampfire, he dug his heel into the ground and felt the earth respond to him, humming in confirmation. _Whatever you want_ , it seemed to say. _Just ask nicely._

He did. Swampfire tossed a handful of seeds toward the chupacabra running toward him and vines burst free from the soil where they landed. The vines twisted up and up, locking around the squirming cryptid and holding it off of the ground. There was silence for a moment. Then the rest of the animals descended at once and all hell broke loose.

A chant of curses raced through Ben's mind as he came up with a dozen other aliens who could handle this better than Swampfire, especially without any bystanders around who might be hurt. _Gravattack, Way Big, Cannonbolt—_ But Ben couldn't spare a hand to touch the Omnitrix when he was trying to fend off the cryptids and keep Zak from getting mauled at the same time.

One of the velociraptor look-alikes tried to sneak up on him from the side. Swampfire kicked a chupacabra into it, sending them both toppling over. Zak made a noise of protest, which quickly became an indignant shout when Swampfire grabbed him by the shirt collar and hefted Zak over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He sent a blast of fire toward the triangular lion-dragon-thing and let it send a nearby building up in flames. If that didn't get Rook's attention, he wasn't sure what would.

"Put me down, Ben!" Zak was attempting to hammer at his back with his fists, but Swampfire barely felt it. He ignored the shouting and just held on tighter. His body was made of vines, and it would regenerate. If he saw one splash of red among the vines, though…

More seeds flew from his free hand, ensnaring cryptids as soon as they got too close. But when Swampfire tied one up, two more took its place, swarming over each other until the others could get free and fell back into place. One of the sasquatches threw a chunk of a nearby wall at him and Swampfire barely burned it in time to keep from taking it to the face. He left himself open in the process, ending up with a chupacabra sinking its teeth into his leg and tearing out a chunk from his ankle to his knee. Swampfire winced even while the vines of his legs knitted themselves back together.

He let himself get distracted for a second too long. Another chupacabra swiped at his face just as the big, sad-looking cat from before prowled up from behind. A snap of its impossibly-long, spur-lined tail sent Swampfire's arm slack at his side as it sliced through the muscles keeping it up.

And, of course, Zak tumbled to the ground immediately after.

" _Zak!"_ Swampfire shouted. He was forced to move back when yet another set of claws made a grab for him through the darkness. He waited for shrieks of pain and agony as Zak disappeared from view, engulfed by the surging crowd, but none came. " _Zak, are you alright?"_ He heard muffled shouts that sounded like protests, angry though not hurt. That was only a small relief because the attacks hadn't slowed. If anything, with Zak out of the way, they only became more intense.

Ben didn't get any time to think about it. It was becoming painfully apparent that _he_ was the target of this ambush, not Zak. He couldn't spare a moment to get a hand to the Omnitrix and, even if he did, Ben was worried about what might happen if he tried to change aliens while injured. Swampfire could press himself back together as easily as breathing, but his more _solid_ aliens wouldn't have the same ability.

Frustrated, Swampfire dropped down to the ground and sank his hands into the dirt. Vines burst up around him in every direction like the bars of a cage. Instead of encircling and ensnaring, they shot straight up, as hard and unbendable as steel. The cryptids tried to swipe at him through the gaps, but they were pinned in place by the vines pressing in from all sides. Swampfire had nearly blocked out the sky with how thick the forest of vines was. He felt it with his fingers and could tell that no one had been hurt, but he had no idea where Zak was anymore and he couldn't hear anyone calling for him over the sound of the crackling fire he had set and all the animals still snarling at him.

There was a rustle from above. If Swampfire had eyebrows, they would have gone shooting up. His eyes widened, though. One of the velociraptor-looking things had taken flight. Ben had assumed that its wings were useless because of how small they were, but then he noticed that it had two other sets along its back. There was rustling in the vines as more and more cryptids managed to claw themselves free, the winged-lizards taking to the sky for an aerial assault. Swampfire only had time to voice one thought. "Oh, fuc—"

He was sent onto his back as one slammed into him, bringing his legs up to kick it off of him and into a second creature that had been diving for his head. They both let out pained whimpers on contact, but Ben couldn't waste time feeling bad. His fingers had been ripped free from the ground and, without him holding it up, the vine forest around him began to crumble and recede. He had two seconds. He couldn't win this fight as Swampfire and it seemed like Rook was taking his sweet time. Ben reached for the Omnitrix, intent on selecting Way Big. Maybe that was overkill, but it would sure make these cryptids scramble and make himself easy to find. His hand was on the dial, then—

" _ **Stop."**_

...then a whispered command broke through the din. The entire world quieted just for that one word to be heard. The cryptids inches from attacking Swampfire shrank back, whimpered and clawing at their heads where Dr. Animo's headbands were beginning to pulse rapidly and spark. Their eyes were what made Ben freeze, though. They were flickering between their normal looks and an orange glow, flames spilling down their faces like tears. Where had Ben seen that before?

The realization hit him at the same time that the Omnitrix powered down. Ben shrank back into his normal skin, settling into it as he turned around. The vines were gone and the cryptids were pulling away, too, making a path even as they squirmed in agony and broke into pained whimpers. The area was bathed in a golden glow, like candlelight. There was no warmth from it, though. Ben had to resist the urge to pull away because the light brought with it tension he had never felt before. The air was so heavy that he could taste it.

Soft footsteps padded against the earth. Zak came into view, stepping out from behind one of the chupacabras with his fingers dancing alone its razor-sharp spines. Only, Ben knew as soon as they made eye-contact that he wasn't looking at Zak. There was no expression on his face. His whole body was bathed in light that made it look like he had been set on fire. His eyes had been dark when Ben met him but, now, they were golden, pupils narrowed into near-invisible slits. Ben almost expected a forked tongue to dart between his lips.

Instead, whatever it was _smiled_. That was somehow worse.

" _ **Such arrogance,"**_ it hissed in Zak's voice, surveying the surrounding cryptids with distaste. " _ **The man responsible for this insult must either be very confident or very stupid. Although, there is little difference when it comes to standing against me."**_

Ben took a step forward, despite every part of him wanting to turn away. He had been scared before — terrified, even — but this was not like that. Something about Zak shook Ben to the core, like something as instinct and deeply-embedded as breathing was telling him that this was _wrong_ , that he needed to _leave_. "Zak?" He tried. The creature turned to him and its smile remained. It took Ben a moment to remember what he was going to say. "Are you…? Is this…? I mean— are you alright?"

It said nothing. To Ben's surprise, its eyes suddenly rolled back and the orange light was cut off like flicking a switch. Zak crumbled like a puppet with its strings cut and Ben, dropping to his knees, barely got his hands under him in time to keep him from slamming into the ground.

He automatically cradled Zak to his chest with one arm, using his other hand to grab Zak's wrist. There was a healthy pulse there, which was a relief. Ben could feel that Zak was still breathing normally and felt himself relax.

He was prepared for another fight, only to be surprised (again) when the cryptids started turning away. Ben could see that Animo's headband was still working, glowing red between their eyes, but they just shook off the effects of whatever Zak had done to them and left. Each and every one of them walked away without hesitation.

What the fuck.

Looking down at Zak still unconscious in his arms, Ben sighed. "You'd better wake up soon and explain this before I start screaming," he threatened lightly.

In the distance, Ben could see Rook's headlights approaching. At least he had found the Proto-TRUK. His timing was, as always impeccable. Ben really hoped that Rook was arriving alone. He had no idea how he was going to explain any of this to Zak's parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The Xing-Xing calls Zak "Nergal" because, in Sumerian mythology, he was the husband of Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. I thought that Nergal was more appropriate because he's the God of War, Plague, Death, and Disease. He's in more religions than Ereshkigal is and later Christian writers sometimes identified Nergal as a demon or in league with Satan. It seemed more appropriate to call Zak by his name than by Ereskigal's (although both would work).
> 
> ** Featured cryptids are chupacabras, several bigfeet, and the Dingmaul, the Central American Whintosser, and the Lone Pine Mountain Devil if you guys wanted to look any of them up. I wanted to use their names in this chapter, but it wasn't like Ben would have known what they were.
> 
> So, this chapter is one I've been anticipating for a while! I didn't want to be overly dramatic with Zak's powers but, you know, their nature makes it impossible to not be a _little_ dramatic. I've been thinking a lot about how I want to characterize the Serpent and its relationship with Zak, so I hope you all enjoy reading about it!
> 
> Up next will be a little detour to see what our villains are up to now that they have what they want, and after that is the cut off for "let-me-spell-out-out-for-you" spoilers, because Zak has some explaining to do and it's going to cover basically everything.


	9. INTERMISSION: Rebirth

The Xing-Xing entered the room with as much dignity as he could muster. Which wasn't a lot. Dr. Animo glanced up at his entrance before ducking right back to his work. Sparks flew as he welded together the finishing touches on his latest creation. "I take it that the elimination didn't go as planned?" He asked, completely unsurprised.

There was a grunt as the Xing-Xing moved across the room, around Dr. Animo's equipment and to a more reasonable range for conversation. "No. You said that Ben Tennyson was skilled, so I came prepared, but…" He took off the mind-controlling headband that Dr. Animo had given him and set it down on the workbench. Curious, Animo turned off his welder and pushed his welding mask out of the way to face the Xing-Xing more seriously. "It was not Ben Tennyson who proved to be the formidable one."

Animo's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Really?" He removed his padded gloves and reached over, taking the headband that the Xing-Xing had set down. Upon closer inspection, he could see that it was sparking, the lights on it flickering dimly. The little hatch that allowed access to the wiring had been popped open and was smoking faintly. Despite the failure, Animo felt a rush of excitement. "What caused this to happen?"

"Kur." The Xing-Xing shrugged, bemused. "I did warn you that you cannot hope to compete against a god. The Highness wasn't amused by your little trick."

"Ah, but it is a fascinating field study!" Dr. Animo grabbed a small screwdriver and began taking apart the headband. "Just think, once I've learned how to replicate that power with my technology, I'll be able to control every freak on the planet… And if I can learn to apply it to normal animals, or even aliens and people, I'll be _unstoppable_!"

The Xing-Xing grunted disinterestedly as he turned his attention to what Animo had been working on before he arrived. "Not that you seem concerned, but I did return your captured cryptids to their cages before coming here. Are you almost finished?"

Quickly enthralled by yet another field of study, Animo dropped the headband he was working on and darted around to the machine. It was impressive, to be sure. The hideout they'd chosen was a remote cave in the Californian wilderness, near cryptids and almost impossible to find unless someone knew what to look for. Getting materials out that far was a hassle, but _so_ worth it. Animo had been at work for a few weeks and his labor had produced an enormous device that stretched to the top of the cavern in jagged metal peaks, lined with metal rods that connected on either end of the base to small display cases. Even a good thirty feet apart, the space between both ends was warped. It shimmered and twisted, like fabric being rustled in a slow breeze.

In either display case, two remarkably similar objects were safely housed. One, pure anti-matter, and the other, matter: both entirely complimentary. It was easy to find anti-matter in the universe. It wasn't so easy to find perfect mirror images of an object. They were so volatile when brought together that Animo had hardly needed the machine to break down reality — he only needed it to focus its disastrous effects on one location.

They were interesting weapons, too. Both of them, metal batons with extending and grappling features, capped with a claw. Quite an interesting design choice.

"Yes, yes, I've almost finished putting just the last things together…" Animo ran a hand over the ineffective controls, imagining the light show that would result from him finally pulling the activation switch. "It won't be much longer now! I think by tomorrow— no, by the end of the evening! I'll have punched through to another dimension and resurrected our dear old friend." He paused. "Now, this is the awkward part…"

There was movement from above and the ground shook on impact as Munya dropped from the ceiling. Before the Xing-Xing could process what was going on, Munya had opened his mouth, jaw splitting down the middle to open unnaturally wide. He shot a web at the Xing-Xing, sticking him to the wall.

For a moment, the Xing-Xing attempted to struggle, but he was smart enough to realize that it was a lost cause as his hands quickly became stuck in the threads and tugged painfully on his fur. "What is this?" He demanded, sounding more scared than he meant to.

Dr. Animo had a smile on his face as he waltzed forward, arms folded behind his back. "I think the colloquial term is "betrayal." You've been helpful, don't get me wrong. Finding the locations of all of those cryptids, and leaving behind bombs in places you knew would be investigated in order to deter or kill any pursuing law enforcement… I know you've never had much of a taste for crime, but you do it well. Unfortunately…" Animo shrugged, a helpless "what-can-you-do" gesture. "You came to me so that I could bring V.V. Argost back into this world. And I'm afraid that he's going to need a new body after I string his consciousness back together from between spacetime. Yours is remarkably similar to his old one. With a few genetically enhanced modifications, I dare say he'll like it even more than what he had before. He never did let me experiment on him, you know. Pity.."

The Xing-Xing struggled pointlessly, in the hopeless way that one does in the face of their inevitable death. "You— You can't!" He cried.

"I already have." Animo gestured to Munya. "A web to his face, if you please. Suffocation should get rid of that pesky consciousness without damaging the body too much."

For the actual process, Animo turned away. He had never been overly fond of murder, though it had its uses. Dead animals were certainly more cooperative than alive ones. He could hear the Xing-Xing gasping for his final breath and choking on a mouthful of webs, and Animo drowned out the sound by flipping his welding mask back into place and picking up where he had left off.

His headbands had been field-tested, Argost's new body had been secured, and Tennyson had been warned. To himself, Animo smiled. Even with a god on his side, he'd like to see how that alien-powered brat wormed his way out of an early death this time.

Ah, but that was just a side benefit! Animo owed Argost many favors, but reanimation was something that he was happy to be enlisted for. His fingers twitched with the old itch for experimentation. Munya was dragging the body of the Xing-Xing over to his temporary lab and Animo's mind raced to catalog some of the cryptids he'd managed to collect. He had to hand it to Munya — for someone lacking in verbal elegance, he knew his way around cryptozoology and he was even better at catching them.

All of his hard work left Animo with so many choices. What would flatter the body of a yeti the most? Animo didn't want to do too much: the Xing-Xing was an ideal choice because of its similarity to Argost's old body and ruining the familiarity would make his awakening less than ideal. But certainly, a few enhancements wouldn't hurt.

It was such an exciting prospect. The Bobo would be interesting, but maybe the Dingmaul would add more flair? The Whintosser was, admittedly, too bizarre, so Animo elected to save it for later genetic experiments. The Mountain Devil had useful features for a fight, but perhaps the Matah Kagmi or the Tripodero? The Snake-Headed Dog would just be ridiculous.

He'd gotten so distracted with ideas that it took Animo a full minute to realize that he had lowered his welder and was staring blankly at his machine. He shook his head to clear it and resumed. First things first, he had to ensure that he could actually rip open a hole in spacetime to reach between dimensions. At the moment, it was all purely theoretical. But as soon as it wasn't anymore, Argost would be returning. And he would have a one-of-a-kind body to greet the world with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but a few plot-important revelations. I've missed Argost so much, I hope you guys are as excited as I am.


	10. Answers

There were no walls and no floor and no ceiling. Zak had his arms folded stubbornly over his chest, glaring weakly at his feet. In front of him, the formless world he inhabited was white. Blank. Empty. Behind him, a yawning chasm extended into blackness. He wasn't sure if that was normal, or if that was due to his "guest."

" _ **How long do you think you can keep this up?"**_ The Serpent asked. Zak refused to turn and look at it, not wanting to see it, not wanting to so much as _acknowledge_ it. He didn't need to ask what it was referring to. " _ **You are isolating yourself with this pointless game. You're hurting those closest to you. I thought that you wanted to protect them, "hero"?"**_

Frustrated, Zak began to pace. He kept his head down. "I don't even know why you drag me down here just to mock me. You can do that when I'm awake!" He snapped.

Technically, that wasn't true. It could only get in Zak's head when he didn't have the Claw. Which he didn't. If he had the Hand of Tsul' Kaul, Zak wouldn't have lost it in front of Ben. He wouldn't be having this conversation.

For the first time in a long time, there was a flicker of emotion from the Serpent. Frustration. " _ **I do this only because you insist on being difficult. Even after all these years, you understand nothing. Unsurprising, considering how you refuse to use our gift."**_

Zak bit out a laugh. "A "gift"? If you want it so bad, you can have it. Just leave me alone and take your stupid powers with you."

He made the mistake of looking up. Across the void, wearing a perfect mirror image of Zak's body, the Serpent used his features to smile. Such an expression looked alien on Zak's face, and he shuddered. " _ **Leave?"**_ It repeated. " _ **If you would rather be dead, then you know how to get rid of me."**_ It took a step toward him, then another. Zak's feet refused to move. " _ **But you don't want to die, do you? You can kill yourself easily. Human bodies are so fragile, it would not even be difficult. It might hurt for a second, but you've been in pain before. You've**_ **killed yourself** _ **before."**_ Its grin threatened to split Zak's face in half. " _ **You won't get rid of me. You're a coward."**_

" _Shut up_!" Zak snapped, closing the distance between them to jab a finger into its chest. Its eyes lit up, orange and gold and white light flickering like fire. Its pupils narrowed into slits, but the smile on its face was almost genuine. "You have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Serpent shook its head. " _ **You call me ignorant, and yet you have no idea what I really am."**_

Prompting it to continue was just _begging_ for an insult. It had been trying to shake Zak's resolve since the day it first settled back beneath his skin. He clenched his jaw but, against his better judgment, asked, "Then what are you?"

It reached out and took his hand. Zak gasped and choked on it as his lungs seized up. Holding onto it was like having his entire arm submerged in ice water. It _burned_. " _ **I am you,"**_ it whispered. " _ **And waking or asleep, you cannot change that."**_

He shot up straight with a gasp, choking on heaving breaths. Zak clawed at his chest for a moment, trying to reorient himself. The hammering of his heart was reassuring. At least, until he opened his eyes and realized that he had no idea where he was.

Before he could start panicking again, a voice interrupted him. "Woah, calm down, Zak." It was Ben's voice, his hand on Zak's shoulder. "Looks like you were having some nightmare. But it's okay, you're awake now."

Ben wasn't very good at comforting people. Zak chose not to think about it, knowing that he'd just end up wishing that his family was there. And it was a good thing that they were far away from him right now. He focused on taking deep breaths, sitting up more correctly and taking the time to look around.

They were in one of the abandoned warehouses in the area. Or, at least, that's what Zak assumed. Funny how they'd come full circle: meeting in a similar building just before dusk and, now, Zak could see the beginnings of dawn lighting up the grey sky through cracks in the walls. Everything was covered in dust and there was abandoned lumber equipment falling apart, but the important thing was that they were alone. At least Zak's parents had never gone through with planting a tracking device on him.

Zak wrapped his arms around his legs, looking between Ben, knelt at his side, and Rook, who was standing some distance away with a scowl. The fact that his gun was holstered wasn't reassuring. He knew how fast Rook could have that thing armed. Still, it wasn't like he was in any position to refuse here. Zak sighed, running a hand over his face wearily "So, what's the damage?" He muttered.

There was a pause while Rook and Ben exchanged looks — surprised that he'd confessed so quickly, maybe? — before Ben spoke. "I guess that depends. What do you remember happening?"

He looked away, closing his eyes for a moment. When Zak opened them, he forced himself to answer. "I was upset back on the airship. I ran off, and you found me. Then we… we got cornered." He set a hand on his forehead, struggling to remember the details. "It's foggy after that. But it doesn't matter. I know what happened."

"You do?" Rook cut in, voice hard and unimpressed. "Because I was very much hoping that someone would explain it to me."

"Sure." Zak shrugged one shoulder. "You saved the day, right?" He pointed at Ben, forcing a grin on his face that felt pained. Ben's eyes narrowed and Zak's smile faltered. "No?" He knew that he was dragging it out but, honestly, he _really_ didn't want to be the one to say it.

"No." Ben folded his arms over his chest, tapping his fingers along his arm impatiently. Then his expression softened and he sighed. "Zak, look. I know that you know what happened, and I know that you know that I know what happened. So can you just explain it to me? I feel like your family hasn't given me one straight answer since we met and I'm going to _lose it_ if I don't get an explanation in the next five seconds."

It wasn't like it mattered anymore. They had seen it: on the video and in person. Zak bit his lip. It was hard to spill a secret after keeping it for years like his life depended on it (which it did), but… But, _fuck_ , did he hate keeping it. For once, the Serpent was quiet. It had nothing to add, it seemed. Still, Zak knew which choice it would think was least favorable for itself, and that was the one that Zak picked in the end.

"Okay, _fine_!" He blurted out, burying his face in his hands. "Yes, I know what happened! What I did! I— I can… influence cryptids to obey me. Is that what you wanted to hear? That's what you saw me doing in that video Rook pulled up. I was controlling them. Or… trying to, anyway," Zak finished as a mumble. He rested his chin on his knees, glancing between Rook and Ben's identical blank expressions nervously. "Please don't tell my parents."

There was more silence, lasting longer this time. Ben and Rook shared looks and several hand gestures that Zak couldn't follow. He hoped that they weren't alien profanities but, well, he couldn't blame them if they were.

Finally, having apparently reached some sort of decision, Ben turned back to him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "Okay. I've met people with influence over animals before. It's not _that_ weird." His lips thinned unhappily. "Although, the glowing is new. And so is the creepy voice and slit eyes."

Zak froze. He felt a shudder run down his spine, his veins turning to ice. "Creepy voice? Like how?" No. The Serpent talked to him in his dreams, sure, but _only_ then. It wasn't supposed to be able to get control.

"You did not say anything about that to me," Rook said accusingly. He gave Ben a pointed look and it went ignored with a wave of Ben's wrist.

"It didn't seem important given everything else that was going on," Ben protested. "But now that I'm thinking about it… Yeah, Zak, your whole body was glowing orange and your pupils turned into slits. You were talking weird, too, saying something about… arrogance, and standing against you. It didn't sound like you at all." He shook his head. "The cryptids around you stopped when you told them too, but they also seemed like they were in pain. It was kind of sad to watch, actually."

His mouth opened, but Zak said nothing. His mind was spinning. The Serpent. It had managed to get a foothold in his consciousness, it had dug its claws into his body and senses. When? _How_? He'd kept it under such tight guard the last two years. It had to be because he didn't have the Hand of Tsul' Kalu anymore. The Claw had been taken and, with it, a huge part of Zak's ability to ground himself. He'd never had to do it by himself before. Now… people were going to die if he didn't figure out a way to fix this.

But they were still waiting for an answer, so Zak shoved those thoughts away for later and then shook his head. "I don't know what that was. To be honest, I don't have a great understanding of my powers yet," he muttered. True in some ways, a blatant lie in others.

Either Rook didn't believe him or he just didn't trust Zak in general (both were equally likely), because he narrowed his eyes and said, "What _can_ you tell us about your powers, then?"

He made an attempt to glare but, since Ben wasn't disagreeing and they had both earned a few "answers," Zak gave it up and sighed. "I was born with them," he settled on after a moment. "They come from…" He bit his tongue. Well, they didn't need to know that part, right? Zak couldn't bring himself to admit it. "My parents have been trying to figure out where they come from, but they haven't yet. I just know that they first appeared when I was ten." Zak flexed his hands in front of his eyes idly. That was so long ago… And yet, only five years had passed. It felt like a lifetime. "Fisk and my dad were in danger. A cryptid was going to attack them. I don't even know what I did, it's like I just… told it to stop, and it did. I've been able to control cryptids ever since." He managed a smile. "Or, try to, anyway."

To his relief, Ben relaxed. "Yeah, I get what it's like trying to be a kid and learning to use your powers for the first time." He touched a hand to the Omnitrix's faceplate, lost in thought for a moment, then refocused on Zak. "If your parents already know about this, why don't you want us to tell them?"

Zak didn't have a good answer for that, so it was a good thing that Rook interrupted when he did. "Not that this is not heartwarming," he said in a tone that betrayed that he very much did not think so, "but may we move on to a different topic? We need to discuss what we're going to do next."

Before Ben could answer, Zak cut in with, "Duh. We find Animo." He set a hand on the splintering wall behind him, carefully pulling himself up onto his feet. His legs trembled and his head spun, black spots bursting in his vision, but Zak ignored all of those things and continued. "He needs to get taken down. And I need my Claw back. Whatever Munya took it for, if he's working with Animo, that's where we'll find it." He looked at Ben seriously. "What you saw, with the weird eyes and the creepy voice… That's because I don't have my Claw. I use it to focus my powers. Without it, they've been acting up."

Ben clicked his tongue sympathetically. "Yeah, I've had Animo steal a little trinket related to my powers that completely screwed up my control, too. Don't worry, we'll get it back." He smiled reassuringly.

Next to him, Rook raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I thought you said that you did not know the reason behind the "creepy voice" and "weird eyes"," he accused. He was ignored.

"Great." Zak nodded at Ben, doing his best to stand up straight and look determined. "So, you tracked me with an alien, right? Can you track Munya the same way?"

"Uh, _maybe_." Ben made a face. "The dude looked like he had a strong scent, but I only managed to find you this quickly because your mom took me to your room. I got a really good feel for your scent. So we can try it, but if that doesn't work…" He trailed off. "I guess back to the old plan."

"Wait." Rook rubbed the bridge of what Zak assumed was his nose. "Are you saying that we are bringing him along with us? He is a _civilian_ , Ben," protested Rook, on the verge of bursting a vein.

That time, Zak did address Rook's complaints. "I also have superpowers," he shot back, and Rook snapped his mouth shut unhappily. "I didn't want you guys to know, but now that you do, you've got no reason to not want me around. Animo has an army of cryptids being forced to obey him, and I'm a cryptid expert _and_ I can control them. I think bringing me along this time would be pretty smart." When there was silence, Zak added, "And Munya is half-cryptid. I've controlled him before, I could take him out of commission for you two."

Hearing that, Ben and Rook shared a look. Rook gave a minute shake of the head, but Ben turned back to him with a rueful grin. "Would've been nice if you'd mentioned that sooner." He stuck his hand out. "Fine. _But_ , only if you stay behind either me or Rook the whole time. I'm guessing that your parents wouldn't be too keen on this, so we won't tell them _yet_. As soon as we're done, though, you're going back to the airship _with_ your Claw. That's a promise." The look on Ben's face said everything that Zak needed to know about his conviction.

That seemed like more than enough excitement for Zak. He took Ben's hand, giving an enthusiastic shake despite the ringing silence in the back of his head. "Deal," he agreed. "If you can find him, we'll be done within the hour."

Rook sighed, exasperated. "I can see that I am talking to no one," he mumbled. "Alright. I will bring the Proto-TRUK around. Zak can ride with me and we will follow you, Ben."

His agreement, however unenthusiastic, got Rook a beaming grin from Ben as he clapped a hand on his partner's shoulder. "I knew you'd come through, buddy," Ben said brightly, as if Rook had any say in the matter at this point.

This was definitely a bad idea, and Zak's parents were most certainly going to kill him if they ever found out, and probably ban him from being a Ben 10 fan, but he didn't care at the moment. He _needed_ to get the Hand of Tsul' Kalu before he permanently lost the thin sliver of control he held over his own body.

There was no laughter in the back of his thoughts. The Serpent was silent, waiting, and Zak didn't know how to feel about that.

The three of them went outside, where Rook had left his TRUK. Zak could see the airship hovering in the distance and bit back a surge of guilt. His family would be so worried… But being grounded for the rest of his life was still better than letting his parents see his powers. He'd told them that they were gone. And for three months, they had been. Three perfectly normal, perfectly uneventful months. Zak could keep pretending for as long as he had to, he just needed the Claw to do it.

He knew that he shouldn't lie to his parents, _he knew it_ , but Zak had told them before and it had ended with himself being hunted like an animal and his parents losing friendships left and right. Life on the run hadn't been a life at all, and Zak couldn't do that to his family a second time. He _wouldn't_. Not when they were finally happy again. Not when his parents were comfortable enough now to sleep through the night without needing to check his breathing.

"Zak?" The sound of his name snapped Zak out of his thoughts just as assuredly as Rook snapping his fingers in his face. Ben hovered over Rook's shoulder, hand on the Omnitrix and expression creased with concern. How much of the conversation had Zak missed? "You look unwell. Perhaps bringing you with us is not such a good idea." Rook's tone was an equal bet between mocking and genuinely worried. Zak, tense and exhausted, took it as the former.

"I'm fine," he snapped, pushing Rook's hand out of his face. "Are we going to do this thing or what?"

Rook and Ben shared another _look_. Ben just shrugged, which seemed to be answer enough. "I guess we are," said Rook. He didn't seem particularly happy about it. Zak didn't particularly care.

A flash of green light announced Ben's transformation back into Wildmutt. Through the fog in his head, Zak mustered up the energy to be excited. He'd always liked Wildmutt, even if he just looked like an overgrown stray dog. The fan forums claimed that Wildmutt was one of Ben's first transformations, but Zak didn't know how true that was. He made a mental note to grill Ben about his aliens when they were done and all of this was over. Before his parents banned him from ever seeing Ben again, anyway.

Ben was patient enough to wait for Rook and Zak to clamor into the Proto-TRUK, then he was off, tearing through trees and underbrush. Rook deployed a plow to the front of the TRUK before following after Ben, knocking wildlife to the side as he ripped through the forest.

There had been a joke about Ben finding Munya's scent pretty easily on the tip of his tongue but, seeing what Rook was doing, Zak swallowed it. He dug his fingers into the chair to ground himself and said, as evenly as he could through clenched teeth, "You shouldn't be doing that to the forest. Endangered animals live here."

It was quiet for a moment. Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way. Rook shot a glance at him out of the corner of his eyes, lips thinned. "Do you have any better ideas?"

"Uh, _yeah_." It took so much energy to be sarcastic. A painful headache was beginning to build in the place where the Serpent usually was. "Can't this thing fly?" Zak asked. It felt like a long time had passed between his two sentences, but Rook didn't make any indication that he'd found something unusual.

"I can assure you that, even assuming that Animo did not spot us first, the roar of my jets is far louder than this," Rook said flatly, eyes focused squarely in front of him on the barely-visible orange blur that was Wildmutt.

But that wasn't the point. It was like he couldn't see that Zak _didn't give a shit about Animo_. This was about the forest, about the animals that he was _**supposed to protect. The arrogance, the insolence! It made him want to dig his claws in and—**_

Zak sucked in a painful breath that sounded more like a sob, digging his fingers into his eyes and rubbing them as if that would make the flames go away. He could see them flickering in the dim cabin, casting gnarled shadows over his hands and dyeing the world with fire.

The TRUK shook as Rook let out a noise of alarm, though Zak wasn't sure if that was because his eyes were glowing or because of the way he was conducting himself. Rook soon straightened, managing to keep them following Ben's haphazard path. He reached one hand out as if to touch Zak and then paused, letting it hover between them with uncertainty. "...Are you alright?" Rook asked. That time, it was impossible for Zak to mistake his tone for mocking.

"Yeah," Zak forced himself to say. He lowered his hands and managed to clamp down on the power threatening to spill out of him. The glow died down and he would have relaxed, had doing so not meant letting it all right back out again. "I told you. It's— It's my powers. They act up when I don't have the Claw. How long until we get to Animo?"

He risked opening his eyes to look at Rook. The frown on his face was real, as was the concern in Rook's eyes as his gaze flickered between Zak and the road. "Um, I am not sure. Hopefully not long." A pause. "Are you in pain?"

The easy answer was "no," but Zak hesitated. He knew that no amount of painkillers would help, and he was pretty sure that Rook wasn't going to offer him some anyway. The temptation to talk about it was what got him. Talking just kept him grounded. Zak told himself that there was no other reason for it. "Yes." He laughed weakly. "It feels like someone is slamming my head with a baseball bat, repeatedly. It feels like I'm going to pass out." But he wouldn't. Because if he did, the Serpent would take his place, and Zak wouldn't allow that.

"I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to fight in this condition," Rook said firmly. He muttered something that sounded like a curse. "We should have taken you back to your parents. While Ben and I intercept Animo, you will wait here, in the TRUK."

Zak laughed again. It sounded ragged. "Oh, don't worry about my ability to fight. When I get like this, I can knock out all the cryptids in that base at once." He took a deep breath. "Trust me. Even if I have to crawl, you're gonna want me in there," Zak promised.

After that, the conversation ended. Rook didn't seem convinced, but Zak didn't need his permission to go into a fight. Short of Rook tying him to the chair, there was nothing that he could do to stop Zak. He must have realized that, hence the silence. At least it didn't aggravate his headache.

The good news was that it didn't take much longer than ten minutes to reach their destination. Zak was mildly surprised that Animo's hideout was so close but, mostly, he didn't care. He exited the Proto-TRUK on shaking legs, taking deep breaths of the fresh air. Much as he was bragging to Rook, this was going to be difficult. He needed to get his head in the game and stop worrying about whatever had the Serpent so quiet. If it was plotting something, then Zak would handle that when it came to him. For now, he had more pressing concerns.

A flash of green light alerted him to Ben's presence and, before he could be found looking like he was about to throw up, Zak pulled himself together and walked around to the front of the TRUK.

"...wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Ben was saying to Rook conversationally. "Turns out, Munya's scent really stands out from the forest. It helps that he's apparently been in the area a lot. But from what I could tell, he's been in _there_ the most." He turned, pointing to a cave some distance away, partly-obscured by the trees. If the sun hadn't been rising, Zak had no doubt that it would have been impossible to make out with the naked eye. It was a good thing that his vision had never been exactly "normal."

He didn't think that he even knew the meaning of the word anymore.

"Looks like the front is the only way in," Zak remarked. "And no door, so we can't knock."

Ben shot him a grin. In the low lighting, he must not have noticed Zak's pasty sheen or the tiredness in his eyes. Good. "Guess our only option is to walk right in. What do you think are the odds that this is a trap?"

Rook tilted his head like he was actually thinking about it. "Almost certain," he stated in a tone that suggested he didn't find that very remarkable.

"I like odds like that." Ben made a show of cracking his knuckles and gestured the way forward. "C'mon. It's just _Animo_. I bet we can be done with this by the time the sun is fully up. And then," he muffled a yawn, "I'm getting a smoothie and a nap."

A nap sounded like an amazing idea. Zak couldn't wait to nod off once he had the Claw safely back in his grasp. Quiet now, the three of them crept forward. Rook kept giving Zak pointed looks, making his disagreement with Zak's decision clear, but he didn't say anything about it in front of Ben. Maybe he should have because Zak had at least a sliver of a chance of listening when it came to his idol, but they were too close now to waste time arguing.

The entrance of the cave was somewhat hidden behind loose foliage and bushes, but the area had clearly been heavily used recently. There were a lot of animal prints, but also heavier, smoother ones that made Zak think something had been dragged through the dirt. At the cave's sides, partly hidden in shadow and natural contours, there were dozens of thick wires that led back out. Zak was sure that, somewhere, they'd find a generator that managed to power everything Animo had cooking up, but he wasn't about to go looking for it. If he concentrated, he could feel the thrum of the Claw's power urging his feet forward, and he was all too happy to oblige.

The cave entrance sloped downward gradually, evening out as a tunnel with light at the end came into view. Tentatively, Zak reached out with his powers. They lashed at him, at first, wanting to push out much, _much_ further than he would let them. But Zak eventually managed to focus and find what felt like a group of pens at the very back of the cave. He reached out to the cryptids one by one, tentatively trying to coax them into sleep. It might only end up buying them a few seconds if Animo's stupid headbands woke them up anyway, but most of them were only too happy to listen to him. Zak tried not to wonder too hard about why that was. If he let himself get angry, then the battle was over.

The sudden transition to light as they entered the main cavern made Zak wince, covering his eyes as his connection shattered and he was brought back to his own body. He looked around with Ben and Rook, surprised to see that there was no one in sight. There were signs that Munya had been there, like the remains of webbing sticking to the wall and ceiling in some places, but there wasn't even a mocking laugh or a slow clap to greet their entrance.

He had the faint thought that it was _definitely_ a trap, but then Zak stopped caring. His breath caught. Animo had constructed an enormous metal platform in the middle of the cave, a device with arches on either side designed to do who-knew-what. It looked like it would fall apart at any moment, singed badly. The air still felt heavy, like there had been a fire recently. But the part that had caught his eye was the closest piece to the cave entrance, a display tube made of glass with his Claw perched innocently in the middle.

Without thinking, he had already knelt down and grabbed a fist-sized rock. Behind him, there was a shout of " _Zak, no!"_ from Ben, but he'd already vaulted up onto the platform. As hard as he could (and Zak could hit _very_ hard), he brought the rock slamming down into the glass. There was a sound like a gunshot in the huge, silent cave. Glass shards burst and fell to the ground at his feet. Zak grabbed the Claw and immediately let out a sigh of relief. Something shifted in his chest, in his mind, slotting back into place as if nothing had been wrong at all. For a moment, he just stood there in the quiet, grateful that the voice in his head would finally stop.

That peacefulness lasted for about two seconds.

"Ah, always right to the violence with you, isn't it?" Echoed a voice that sent chills down Zak's spine. He locked up, staring at nothing. And then, with an intense amount of effort, Zak lifted his head. "Even after so many years, some things never change. But then, you've always had an incurable number of flaws."

_No._ No, it wasn't possible. Zak couldn't breathe.

Because that was V.V. Argost. He was standing off to the side, near the work desks, as casual as could be. As if nothing was out of the ordinary or a cause for concern. His voice was exactly the same, but it was his body that made Zak do a double-take. Argost's white fur had been replaced with startling orange. Seeing him without his cape and mask was just as disarming, but Argost's posture was no less dignified because he was naked. His jaw had been elongated, forming more of a bear's muzzle than an ape's mouth. Row after row of razor-sharp teeth matched the claws he had on both feet and hands, his body outfitted with muscles that rippled even beneath his fur.

Zak felt his mouth move. No sound came out. His ears were ringing. He thought for a moment that Argost was speaking again, but the rise and fall of his chest gave him away. Argost was laughing. Zak's whole world was falling out from beneath him, and _Argost was laughing_. It felt like there wasn't enough air in the universe for him to muster up a breath.

Then there was a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back, cutting off his view of Argost. Black and green caught Zak's attention and he wheezed. _Ben_. His agency came rushing back to him and his feet stumbled. Zak only remained standing because the grip on his shoulder tightened, keeping him right where he was.

"So," Ben said, his voice as calm and snarky as Zak had ever heard it, "you must be Argost. Funny, you always looked smaller on TV. And a lot less… _animal-ish_."

Argost chuckled. Zak tried not to cringe, but he didn't think he managed very well. "I see you have equal amounts of eloquence as your friend, Mr. Tennyson."

"No need to be polite." Zak could practically _hear_ the smirk in Ben's voice as he brandished the Omnitrix. "By the time I'm done kicking your ass, I'm sure we'll be on just a last-name basis. Or you can just call me "whelp." If you've heard of me, then I'm guessing that you know who you're dealing with."

"Quite." Argost hummed disinterestedly. Even with Ben standing between them, Zak could _feel_ Argost's stare drilling into him. "As, ah… _entertaining_ as fighting you would undoubtedly be, I'm afraid that I've much more pressing matters to concern myself with. I have, after all, been _dead_ for several years." Normally, Argost's voice was tightly controlled, but the word "dead" was said with such venom that Zak was left with no doubt in his mind what Argost wanted. His mouth tasted like bile. "If you'll step aside, I'd like to complete my transaction with young Mr. Saturday uninterrupted." Argost smiled through his fangs.

He didn't just want to kill Zak — Argost wanted to drag it out, he wanted to make it _hurt_.

Ben laughed without humor. He still had one arm up defensively in front of Zak, fingers curled into a fist. At his side, Rook was beginning to look concerned, sneaking glances between Argost and Zak. "I'm sure you would, but that's not going to happen. Whatever you were doing here, forget it. We're freeing those cryptids, ripping apart these machines, and taking you down," Ben declared.

"I'd like to see you try!" A haughty, nasally voice shouted, destroying the tension. Out of the shadows, some off-shooting tunnel that Zak hadn't noticed before, Dr. Animo stepped out boldly. Zak set a hand on Ben's arm, standing more at his side now than behind as he took in Animo's new appearance.

His family needed to update their criminal database — Animo was green and thin to a sickly degree, his hair falling out and his eyes bloodshot. The biggest change in appearance was the dome on his head, though. He'd replaced part of his skull with glass, leaving his brain visible in a way that made Zak's stomach turn.

"Two for one?" Ben joked, looking between the two villains. "What do you say, Rook, you take the one on the left and I take the one on the right?"

"Hardly seems sporting," Argost replied, his gaze never leaving Zak. Try as he might, Zak couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with Argost, focusing on Animo instead. "Why don't we even the odds? Oh, Munya!"

There was a thud from behind them. Zak turned his head to see Munya's hulking body blocking the way they'd come in, thick webs further blocking the exit. How long had he been back there without them noticing? The way that Munya looked at him, with hatred the likes of which Zak had never seen, was suddenly tolerable. Compared to the look on Argost's face, Munya was just about happy to see him.

"Three on three?" Ben snorted. The Omnitrix beeped as he popped up the dial. "You're going to need more guys on your side."

Before he could slam down on the dial, launching the room into a fight, Rook caught Ben by the wrist. "Ben," he whisper-hissed, "forgive me, but I do not think that Zak is in any condition to fight right now."

He wanted to protest, but Zak couldn't get his mouth to work. He was coming apart at the seams and everyone was cracking shitty one-liners like it was just another Tuesday. Zak swallowed. He wished that his family was there.

"Today," Animo began with a shout, his voice booming through the cave, "you have met your match, Ben Tennyson! For too long, you've humiliated me. For _years_ , I've waited for this glorious day!" He gestured to the impressive machine in front of them. "Now that I have a greater understanding of the fabric of spacetime itself, I intend to—"

"Shh." Argost cut Animo off with a smile that made something heavy sink in Zak's stomach. He reached out with one enormous paw and all Zak could do was watch. "No need to spoil the best part so early."

Ben let out a choked noise and lurched forward, perhaps going to stop Argost, but it was too late. Zak got one good look at the flickering realization on Animo's face, and then Argost closed his hand around Animo's head and _squeezed_.

There was a splatter as Argost flicked his hand to the side, pink mush landing wetly on the stone wall. Glass cracked and splintered across the floor, swallowed by the blood pouring out of Animo's slumped, headless body. Zak's stomach heaved violently. He felt thousands of miles away, completely removed from his skin. And that was a good thing because, otherwise, he would have vomited at the sight.

The sound that Ben made was unholy — a mixture of anguish and fury, like he couldn't decide which one he felt the strongest about. He slapped the Omnitrix and Zak didn't even see what alien he'd turned into because, because…

The flash had glinted off of something in the corner of his eye. Zak turned his head and stared. Across the machine they were standing on, there was a second glass display case, like the one he'd broken before. Inside of it was another Claw. Or, no, not the Claw. Similar, but not quite. His feet moved toward it without his permission.

Zak latched onto it as a fight raged around him. He was too wrung out to care about what was happening. Argost was alive. Animo was dead. He was next, if the Serpent didn't get to him first. And in front of him was something that Zak thought he'd never see again: the Fang, in all of its parallel universe, anti-matter glory.

He felt empty. Completely ambivalent to the outcome of the fight. Zak approached the Fang calmly and lifted the glass dome off of it, grabbing the weapon from its display with his free hand. It _burned_ where it touched his skin, a searing sort of pain that made the Serpent shriek while Zak winced. He didn't let go of it, though. So that was how Animo had managed to bring Argost back — he'd torn open a hole between dimensions.

Maybe it would work the other way...

" _Zak!"_ A shout of his name caused his head to snap up and Zak had a moment to process what looked like a giant blue moth before Ben, as Big Chill, had swept him off of the ground at break-neck speed. A second later, Argost slammed an impressively huge fist (still wet with Animo's blood) into the ground where he'd been standing. " _What are you doing, Zak? We're in the middle of a fight! Zak?"_

He still couldn't answer. Zak hadn't managed a word since Argost announced himself and he wasn't sure how he could ever formulate the words to speak again.

" _Fuck,"_ Ben hissed. Under better circumstances, Zak might've found it funny. In the moment, all he could do was wrap his arms around Big Chill's neck and hope that he wasn't dropped.

Ben swerved in the air to avoid a large rock lugged their way, darting down to where Rook was fighting Munya. When they were close enough, Zak was dropped unsteadily to his feet, stumbling, and Big Chill soared through Munya, leaving him frozen solid mid-punch. It wouldn't hold forever, but it didn't need to.

" _Rook, get Zak to the Proto-TRUK. I'll hold these guys off to buy you some time and then meet back up with you."_ Ben instructed.

There was no argument. Rook nodded stiffly, turning his Proto-Tool into a laser mid-pivot and firing it at the web blocking their way out. When he'd made a big enough hole, Rook grabbed Zak by the waist, hefted him over one shoulder, and ran out as fast as he could. A part of Zak wanted to be bothered by that, but he knew that his feet would find something to trip on if he tried to run himself. He still felt like he wasn't involved in what was going on. Dimly, he heard Munya's ice prison shatter behind them and Zak didn't care at all.

Leaving the cave felt even more surreal. The early morning air was refreshing, the sun was beautiful, and the sounds of the insects and wildlife made Zak feel right at home. But after what had just happened, he couldn't appreciate any of it. He was breathing shallowly, trembling. His mom's voice came swimming back to him: " _Look for sweating and shaking, Zak. Less visible symptoms are usually things like nausea or chest and stomach pain. A pounding heart is also a good indication, but you shouldn't try to touch someone who's having a panic attack unless they ask you to. You need to learn to recognize and deal with these things, sweetie. There are some things that can't be healed with a first-aid kit and a stay in the hospital."_

Rook opened the passenger side door to the TRUK and plopped Zak down in the seat without elegance. Darting around the side, it was only a few seconds before Rook was jamming in the keys, slamming on the gas, and they were off. This time, Zak didn't care at all about tearing up the forest.

" _ **Look at you,"**_ the Serpent hissed. Zak didn't even _try_ to keep the voice quiet. " _ **Useless.**_ **We** _ **should have been the ones commanding that room."**_

"Zak?" Rook asked, hesitant. "Are you okay?" He'd asked that once before. Zak hadn't answered honestly the first time.

Mutely, all Zak did was shake his head. He didn't know which voice he was disagreeing with. The right words wouldn't come — no words would come at all.

The grips that he had on the Claw and the Fang were tight enough to make his knuckles ache. His skin was scorched and burnt where he was holding the Fang. Zak was so, so tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I killed off Animo. He was stale by the end of the OG and he still came back in every iteration of Ben 10 after that. I doubt anyone is saddened by this loss.
> 
> Now, why did Argost kill the dude who brought him back to life? Well, easy: that motherfucker is merciless. He's a sociopathic egomaniac and he's never treated anyone with a shred of kindness or mercy in canon. Especially not his bought and paid for "allies." Animo is annoying and no longer useful, so Argost disposed of him. Simple.


	11. Truth

When he had attended the Plumber Academy, there were a wide range of psychological courses that Rook could take. There were, after all, many different species in the world and a lot of them had radically different cultures and thought processes. Rook had considered taking the human psychology course at the time, due to his fascination and adoration of Ben 10, but he had ultimately passed it up because it didn't seem like it would be useful and advanced hardware was more interesting.

Rook was cursing every god he could name that he didn't take that course. He cursed the universe for turning a routine prison escape into _this_ shitshow. And, because he was in a cursing mood, Rook cursed Ben for leaving him with someone in the middle of a panic attack.

He drove back the way they'd come and made it about halfway down the haphazard path he'd carved through the foliage before Rook suddenly slammed on the brakes. He knew nothing about what to do or what Zak was going though, he just knew that Zak looked like he was _dying_ and Rook needed to fix it.

Turning to Zak, the first thing that Rook noticed was the smell of something burning. His concern shot up through the roof as he tried to figure out where _that_ was coming from. The realization that Zak's grip on the weapon he was holding was causing his skin to burn was one that registered faster than it probably should. Acting on instinct, Rook reached out and pried Zak's fingers open.

Zak made a noise like he'd just been punched, curling up tighter, but Rook was ignoring the overly emotional reaction for the time being. He didn't know how to handle that, but a burn was something that Rook was plenty qualified to treat. Saying nothing, Rook set the weapon (similar to Zak's Claw in design) aside and got out of the TRUK. Going around the back, he was quick to grab the first aid kit that he stashed there before walking to the passenger side.

When Rook opened the door, Zak hadn't moved. He was still curled up, but he had stopped trembling, staring blankly at something far, far in the distance. The same look that he'd had on his face when Argost revealed himself. Rook had the uncomfortable thought that, in his head, Zak was still standing in the cave.

But that burn was going to get worse if he didn't treat it, so Rook took hold of Zak's wrist even though he knew it was a bad idea. Zak tensed. Instead of lashing out, like Rook half-expected, his head turned and he looked Rook dead in the eye. Rook's breath caught.

Those weren't Zak's eyes. They were narrowed into slits, orange light trickling out like tears. Before Rook could figure out what to do, Zak blinked, and his eyes returned to normal. When they'd met, Rook could have sworn that his eyes were dark brown. But now they were bright and burnt, almost silver in the early morning light.

"Sorry," Zak said quietly. The grip that Rook had on his wrist loosened but Zak didn't pull away. "Lost my composer for a minute there. My bad."

Rook had no idea why Zak was apologizing when, objectively, he had done nothing wrong. But he decided not to push, because Zak was finally looking at him instead of at something far away. Or not looking at anything at all because something else was using his eyes.

"No need to apologize," Rook said evenly. He popped open the first aid kit and set it down on the TRUK's floor, angling Zak so that he was facing Rook and his legs were dangling out the side of the open passenger door. "I need to treat your hand for that burn. Do you know how it happened?" He needed to know if it was a friction burn, a chemical burn, an electrical burn… None of those seemed very likely. Rook was racking his brain to remember what Zak had been doing while he was fighting off Munya. Because, surely, Zak had gotten burned back in the cave and not by holding a metal stick.

That idea was shot in the foot when Zak shrugged and said, quite casually, "I was holding pure antimatter. I guess our energy is opposite enough that it reacted badly to me." He looked over his shoulder at where Rook had tossed the weapon. "You might want to move it. It's going to burn your upholstery if you let it sit there."

Rook decided to treat it as a physical burn. It didn't look second degree to him, but he grabbed some burn gel anyway and tore open the packet to liberally smear it over Zak's up-turned palm. "Antimatter does not burn," he said flatly. "If antimatter and matter came into direct contact, both would explode." He didn't even want to touch upon the bit about "similar energy," whatever that meant, because Rook was _honestly_ too tired for this.

"It's magic," Zak said. He winced, wiggling his fingers, but otherwise didn't react to the treatment. The grip that his other hand had on the Claw was vice-like. "Dark magic. It's not normal, scientific antimatter."

If Rook didn't spend as much time talking to Gwendolyn as he did, he would have told Zak flat-out that "magical antimatter" was all but an oxymoron. As it was, he just sighed and grabbed the bandages. "Of course it is…" He muttered. He had been spending too much time around Ben to be surprised by this development. It was quiet between them for a few minutes, then Rook said, "I thought Argost was dead."

Wrong thing to say, apparently. Zak tensed up and his breath caught. He forced himself to relax when Rook grabbed his hand, although it looked like it took a considerable amount of effort. "He was," Zak said quietly, and Rook was smart enough to know that it was time to stop pushing it.

He was sure that there would be a full investigation when Ben arrived, which would probably be soon, and Zak's parents were undoubtedly going to kill Rook and Ben for this. And Zak too, maybe. They seemed pretty angry before and Rook highly doubted that informing them about what had happened in the last hour was going to make them feel much better.

Right as Rook finished putting everything back into the first aid kit, there was the noise of beating wings and a flash of green light. Feet hit the ground running, and Ben swung around the side of the Proto-TRUK looking as severe as Rook had ever seen him. "What," he began calmly, "was _that_?"

Zak flexed his bandaged hand idly, taking his time with figuring out what he wanted to say. "Did you take care of them?" He asked instead of answering.

Which was definitely the wrong move. Rook rarely, if ever, saw Ben get heated or annoyed, but his left eyebrow was twitching and the look on his face was far from friendly. "They went off down one of the other tunnels and I decided not to follow them. _Zak_." And when he heard his name, the calm façade shattered. Zak flinched. "You've been hiding things. Tell me what the fuck is going on."

Honestly, Rook wasn't expecting Zak to actually answer. He looked stricken, staring at Ben as if making eye contact would force Ben to back down. Then, as if it pained him, Zak sighed and looked away. "I guess it doesn't really matter if I tell you. If I don't, Arg—" He stumbled over the name, then forced himself to continue. " _Argost_ is going to end up telling you anyway, to mock me."

Ben had his arms crossed over his chest, unimpressed. When he spoke, his voice was flat. "Don't leave anything out this time."

While he spoke, Zak fiddled with the Claw, passing it between both hands and spinning it in circles and drumming his fingers along the length. "I already told you about the Kur Stone. Did you fill Rook in, or—?" He pointed at Rook and Ben shook his head. As a matter of fact, Rook did not know what a "Kur Stone" was or how it was relevant to the conversation, so he was glad they were backtracking for his sake. Or Rook would have been glad if he didn't find the entire situation so frustrating. "Right. Okay, so, I met Argost about four years ago. He sent some mercenaries to our house to find my parents' piece of the Kur Stone. Long story cut really short, the Kur Stone is a map. It's supposed to leave you to Kur, a powerful ancient cryptid with the ability to control other cryptids. My parents dug it up before I was born and decided that it was too dangerous, so they cut it into three pieces. Argost wanted to put them all together so he could find and control Kur." He pulled his legs into the TRUK, crossing them in an attempt to look casual. It didn't help. Zak was still squirming and fidgeting with barely-contained anxiety. "Good so far?" He looked between the two of them.

No, not really. There were a lot of details that Rook didn't know and questions unanswered. But he supposed that it went back to the whole "magic" thing that Zak was talking about before. Fine. An old map and an ancient being of unimaginable power. Rook had certainly heard weirder things. He could "roll with it," as Ben liked to say. He settled for nodding.

"Okay. Good." Zak bit his lip, thinking hard about something. "Quick tangent, but this is important, too. Once, my family was investigating the ruins of Tezcatlipotla. Not a lot of their magic survived after their civilization fell, but we did find one thing." He twisted around, reaching into the TRUK. Zak came back holding the weapon-that-looked-like-the-Claw-but-wasn't pinched between his thumb and forefinger, looking uncomfortable. He tossed it at Ben, who caught it on impulse. "It's called the Smoke Mirror. It holds a shadow realm filled with twisted versions of everyone. And that…" Zak nodded at the weapon Ben was holding. "That's the Fang. It belonged to the… other Zak."

After staring at the Fang for a moment, running his fingers over the little crystal skull at one end, Ben hummed. "You have a doppelgänger, too? Mine isn't magic, but he's more… froggy." Ben gave a rueful smile as he slipped the Fang into his pocket. "That sounds really freaky, though."

"It was." Zak nodded. His expression didn't fall, exactly, because he definitely hadn't been smiling, but there was a noticeable shift when he looked away. "And it's _had_ ," he corrected softly. "I _had_ a doppelgänger. Argost killed him."

Silence. Rook stared, mouth parted in surprise, and Ben was the one to move. He walked up to Zak and squeezed himself into the Proto-TRUK. The seat was plenty big enough for them both and Ben put an arm around Zak's shoulders. He tensed at first, then leaned into it gratefully. "I've had friends die," Ben spoke gently. "And villains, too. I get how conflicting it can feel. But for the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with being sad that someone died, even if they weren't a good person. You're grieving for yourself, not for him."

Zak laughed, sort of. It sounded a little too wheezy and near-tears to be a real laugh. "It happened years ago," he said as if that changed anything. But it was a step above saying, " _I'm fine,"_ so Ben let it slide. "Anyway, the point is that our world and the shadow world can't mix. If a lot of antimatter comes here, the fabric of the universe starts to break down. So me and the other Zak couldn't touch, because we propelled each other. Just standing near each other caused a bunch of freaky shit to happen, like snowing indoors or reverse gravity or the walls melting…" A pause. "Argost killed him to take his powers," Zak said eventually. "And he wanted mine, too. But when he tried…"

"The conflicting energies tore him apart," Rook finished as realization dawned. "So his manor did not explode because of a gas leak. That was a surge of interdimensional energy."

"Yeah." Nodding, Zak shifted to pull away from Ben, sitting up straight. Ben let him, nudging their shoulders together to remind Zak that he was still there if he wanted comfort. "So it tore him between dimensions, I guess. And that big thing that Animo made brought him back." Zak winced. "Sorry, Ben… That must be hard for you."

It was in some ways, and it wasn't in others. Ben had known Dr. Animo since he was ten-years-old, but he hadn't really _known_ the first thing about the man on a personal level. It left Ben in a weird flux where he wasn't sure how upset he was or how much of that was appropriate. He did know that he never wanted Animo to die, for sure. There was a comfy cell for him back at Plumber HQ, reserved just for Animo, he had been there so much. Now he was dead. Ben needed to call the Plumbers so they could collect the body and hold a service.

"It's fine." Ben shrugged one shoulder and looked away. "It's not like there's much I can do about it…" He closed his eyes and had a moment of silence, anyway. Animo didn't deserve to die.

There was a lull in the conversation, none of them really knowing what to say. Now that he had all of the information, Ben was starting to piece things together. No wonder Munya wanted Zak dead from the get-go. The reason that the Claw had been stolen, Argost's mix-and-match body, and Kur—

Actually, Zak hadn't said a whole lot about Kur. He told them what Kur _was_ , sure, but not what it had to do with the story. Come to think of it, Zak had brought up Kur again before he told them everything, just a few minutes ago. And then nothing had come from it. He had just explained the Kur Stone and then moved on.

Ben was about to ask about that, but Rook beat him to the punch. "We should return to the airship," he said. "Your parents are very worried, Zak. And they ought to know that Argost is alive again."

Although he made a face, Zak didn't argue. He let out a sarcastic huff. "Yeah, well… In that case, it was nice knowing you. Both of you." Zak looked between Ben and Rook fondly. "Sorry that this turned into such a shitshow, but… You know, aside from all of the bad parts, this is the most fun I've had since before…" He trailed off and didn't finish that train of thought. "Anyway, yeah. I have to tell my parents about my powers. And once they find out the truth, they're probably gonna lock me in a metal crate and never let me out of their sight again."

Confused, Ben asked, "I thought you said that your parents already knew about your powers?"

Zak, fascinated by a loose strand on his pants, picked at the fraying fiber while he spoke. "Well… Yeah, they know that I was born with them, obviously. But— When Argost took my powers, it… killed me. Like it did the other Zak. Because he wasn't _just_ taking our powers, he was taking our souls," he explained in a carefully measured, painfully nonplussed voice. "My parents got me medical treatment quick enough that I was fine. My soul came back to my body once Argost blew himself up and I was only legally dead for about five minutes." He paused. "And then for a month or so, I was fine. Totally normal. No sign of any powers at all. I always sort of hoped that they would come back slowly or maybe even weaker. I did really miss being able to communicate with cryptids. That's not what happened." Zak shuddered. "They came back all at once, like I just flicked a switch one morning and I was stronger than I'd ever been. Harder to control, too. That's when I started hearing the… voice. And getting those creepy eyes, sometimes. I didn't tell my parents that they were back. They'd already been through so much, you know? I just wanted to move on, but instead everything is getting dragged out into the open and there's nothing I can do about it."

Wordlessly, Ben put his arm around Zak again. Instead of leaving it there, he turned Zak into him and hugged him properly. He couldn't say anything because he already knew that nothing would be comforting. The situation _sucked_ , and Ben couldn't change that with a pep talk. But Zak was hugging him back, which he took to be a good sign. "Thanks for telling us anyway," he said quietly. It didn't get an answer, but then, Ben hadn't expected it to.

He waved at Rook to get his attention and nodded toward the driver seat. Rook understood without words, nodding and going around to get the TRUK started. Ben shifted their position to pull Zak back into the cabin and he shut the door behind them. That seemed to be it for the hug, although Zak made no move to put distance between them. Their arms pressed together was just as comforting.

While Rook drove and Zak stared out the window, Ben used the communicator in the Omnitrix to call Grandpa Max. Since he was the top Plumber official in the area, he ought to know that a criminal was dead. And… a part of Ben wanted to hear his grandfather's voice. He'd been there five years ago when Ben first met Animo. Thinking about the summer Ben had spent with his grandpa and cousin, before the fate of the universe was on his shoulders and he was just a kid having fun with a cool watch, made Ben tear up.

He didn't know how to tell Grandpa Max the rest, since it was such a long, complicated story (and, frankly, Ben didn't think that it was his place to tell it), so he just ended up telling Grandpa that V.V. Argost was the murderer and that his reported death a few years ago had been faked. Zak was so quiet that Ben had almost forgotten he was there, but he gave Ben's hand a grateful squeeze for being selective with his story.

" _I'll send a team out there to collect the body,"_ Grandpa Max assured him when Ben was done telling his story. He paused. " _And, Ben… Do you want to talk, kiddo?"_

How long had it been since Grandpa called him that? Ben blinked rapidly to keep his eyes dry. It was hard, having his grandfather as his boss. Sometimes Ben wondered if Grandpa remembered that he was still just sixteen. "Maybe when I get back," he admitted, doing his best not to be ashamed of himself. He only succeeded marginally. "Right now I've got to let the Saturday family know and thank them for their help with this investigation." That was the professional thing to do. Ben could grieve when he wasn't on the clock. And preferably after he had a nap.

" _Alright. Finish with that, and then I want you and Rook to take some down time and rest,"_ Grandpa said in his no-nonsense voice. " _I'll have another squad take over hunting down Argost, wherever he got off to."_

Ben glanced over at Zak, who was still facing the window. They hadn't looked at each other since the TRUK started. Somehow, Ben didn't think that Argost was going to go very far. He hesitated, but ultimately decided that he should discuss getting the Saturday family some protection in private. He didn't think that Zak would take very kindly to the suggestion, as personal as the whole situation was.

"Understood," Ben replied with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Which wasn't a lot. "I'll get back to you whenever I wake up, then. Love you."

" _Love you, too."_ It was clear that Grandpa wanted to say more, but it wasn't the time nor the place. He hung up and Ben tried not to feel too stung by the flat dial tone.

The rest of the drive was silent. None of them felt like forcing conversation. Luckily, finding the Saturdays wasn't difficult. Their orange airship was pretty big and _very_ hard to miss. Once it seemed like they were getting close, Ben cleared his throat.

"Do you want me to tell your parents for you, or…?" He trailed off, leaving the question open-ended.

Zak blinked, surprised. As if he hadn't thought that Ben would be talking to him. When he processed the question, he shook his head. "Tell them about Animo, but… I'll tell them the rest." He paused. "And sorry in advance, but there's probably going to be yelling."

They'd barely parked the Proto-TRUK before the airship's ramp was opening up. Ben climbed out after Zak, just in time to watch Doc scoop his son into a hug that lifted him off the ground.

"There you are!" Doc set Zak back down on his feet, relief quickly drawing down into a scowl. "Zak, I can't believe you would run off like that! We've talked about this. Thank you for finding him," Doc directed at Ben and Rook before turning back to his son, "but there is going to be _hell to pay_ for this stunt, young man, your mother and I—"

"Dad." It was barely louder than a whisper, but something in Zak's voice must have spoken _volumes_ because Doc froze mid-rant. "I have something to tell you and mom. Before you ground me for the rest of my life, can we talk? It's important."

Doc hesitated, but only for a second. He gave a stiff nod, setting a hand on Zak's head. "Of course," he said gently. "Your mother and Fiskerton went out looking for you. I stayed here in case you came back. Why don't you show our guests to the bridge while I contact them?"

"Okay. Thanks, Dad." Zak gave him a brief hug, pulling back before Doc could return it. He gestured for Ben and Rook to follow him. "You guys remember where the airship's bridge is, right?"

The conversation must have just been a front for his dad, because once they were in the airship, Zak let it patter out. While Zak led them, Ben elbowed Rook in the side to get his attention. He shrugged helplessly, gesturing to Zak's turned back, and Rook's face knotted up in sympathy. That was one good thing, at least: Zak's degrading emotional state had gotten Rook over his irrational dislike.

Victory had never tasted more hollow.

In the bridge, Komodo was waiting curled up in one of the pilot's chairs to catch some early morning sunlight. He opened one beady eye when they entered and made a show of yawning. Climbing off of the chair, he curled up on the floor at the base of it. Understanding his intent, Zak took a seat in the curl of Komodo's huge body, and automatically began petting the tail that was draped across his lap in response.

"Hey, boy," he murmured, scratching under Komodo's chin with his other hand. "Yeah… Sorry about worrying you. I missed you, too."

It didn't look like Komodo had been overly worried, but he flicked his tongue in contentment and buried his head further into Zak's chest. Since they were sitting on the floor already, Ben looked over at Rook and shrugged before taking a seat near them. At least Komodo liked him — he let Ben run a hand down his scaled back while they waited for the rest of the family to join them. Rook, ever the downer, opted to remain standing.

They didn't have to wait very long. It must have only been a few minutes before the door was swinging open and Doc, Drew, and Fisk joined them.

"Zak!" Drew hurried over and kneeled down to be at Zak's level. She smoothed his hair back, gripping his face with a stern expression. "You had better have an _amazing_ explanation for why you ran off like that! We searched all over the forest for _hours_. Where have you been?" She sent an accusing look at Rook and Ben, too.

"Um…" Zak smiled weakly and held up the Claw. "Well, we found the Claw. And there's a few other… _developments_."

Fisk chattered happily and ducked around Drew to climb on top of his brothers. Komodo hissed angrily as he was shifted, but it ended with Komodo curled on one side and Fisk holding Zak from the other. He kept talking, too fast for Ben to even try and keep up with it.

Zak seemed to understand, though, setting a consoling hand on Fisk's arm and rubbing in short circles. "I know, I get it. I'm sorry." Fisk said something else and Zak scoffed. "I remember what I said, but that was two years ago, and that was _completely_ different from—"

"Boys." Doc came to stand next to Drew as she straightened back up. He folded his arms across his chest, unimpressed. "Care to explain what happened? And why it took nearly three hours?"

Ben and Rook looked at each other. True to his word, Zak was looking at the ground. He wanted Ben to start, right? "The thing is…" Ben rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, glancing at Zak's parents. "Well… Okay, there's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it. See—"

"Animo is dead," Rook said bluntly. Ben just about choked.

"Dude! A little tact next time?" Ben snapped.

Rook tilted his head in confusion. "But you said to just say it. I do not see why you need to evade the subject. Everyone dies at some point."

Mental note: go over more human culture lessons with Rook. Ben did _not_ need Rook to be doing that if they ever had to inform loved ones of someone's passing.

"Dr. Animo died?" Drew frowned, glancing at Zak. He refused to look at his parents, still staring at the ground with one hand buried in Fisk's fur and the other stroking down Komodo's muzzle. "Well… how? What happened? Did you…?"

"No!" Ben held up his hands in surrender, shaking his head rapidly. "No, I would never! Not if I could help it, anyway…" He trailed off, uncomfortable.

There was an awkward pause. Rook opened his mouth, then shut it again when Ben jammed an elbow in his side.

Instead of answering that question, Ben reached into his pocket. He pulled out the Fang and held it out to Zak's parents; Drew gasped, and Doc hissed through his teeth. Fisk murmured uneasily. "You recognize this, right? Animo had it." Ben waited until Doc had grabbed it to add, "He was using it to rip a hole between those two realities."

He didn't need to say the rest. Drew had an iron grip on Doc's arm as she stared hard at Ben. "And did Animo succeed?"

Zak huffed. His fingers never slowed as he continued to stroke Komodo. "Who do you think killed him?" He asked flatly.

The grip that Doc had on the Fang was so tight that it was threatening to snap. "You saw him?" He demanded, gesturing between Ben and Rook. "You saw Argost? You can verify that, somehow, he's still _alive_?"

The Saturdays seemed to have forgotten that they lied to Ben and Rook about what happened to Argost not even a day earlier. Given the high-stress situation, Ben didn't blame them. Rook cleared his throat. "From what we gathered," he said carefully, "Argost was brought back thanks to Animo's device. Animo used DNA samples from the missing cryptids to build Argost a new body. We are unsure what his plans are or where he is now."

"Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea of what his plan is," Drew snapped. She turned on a dime, stalking over to Zak. Before he could say anything, Drew pulled him away from his brothers and to his feet. "Zak." She set both hands on his shoulders. "Say goodbye to your friends. We're leaving in five minutes. And I'm not letting you out of my sight, understand?"

For several long seconds, Zak didn't meet her eyes. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the ground, face hidden by his hair. His shoulders were shaking.

Walking up from behind Drew, Doc bent down to be at Zak's height, reaching over to take his hand. "Zak," he said softly, "why are you crying?"

To show his support, Komodo had wrapped his tail loosely around Zak's ankle and hissed questioningly. On his feet, Fisk murmured with concern, hovering behind Zak and not wanting to crowd him. It should have been sweet to see Zak's family so worried about him, and it was, but Ben couldn't help the anxious twisting of his gut. He had a bad feeling that he didn't want to be in the room for whatever was going to happen next.

"Mom, Dad…" Zak sighed shakily, scrubbing hard at his eyes. "I need to tell you something. There's— one other thing." He lifted his head, eyes red-rimmed and glassy with unshed tears. Zak struggled with the right words for a moment, mouth working uselessly as he glanced between his two parents, but then he finally just spat it out. "My powers are back."

Dead silence. Drew pulled back and straightened. Doc let go of Zak's hand and Ben felt it like a punch to the gut. "How long?" Doc asked, and he didn't sound gentle anymore. He sounded accusatory, like he already knew the answer and was just waiting for Zak to admit it.

His tone wasn't missed. Zak winced, even as Fisk protested in defense of his brother and set his hands on Zak's shoulders. "They came back a month after I woke up," he admitted, his voice a whisper. Drew made a noise suspiciously close to a sob — or maybe it was a laugh. "And when they came back, they came back stronger. I can barely control them most of the time. I— I never wanted you guys to know—"

"Well, obviously!" Doc interrupted, furious. "I think we've gathered that much, Zak. Is there anything that you _do_ want to tell us, ever? Anymore, it seems like a fight just to get you to talk about your day!"

When Fisk continued to try and argue on Zak's behalf, Drew cut him off. "Fiskerton, did you know about this?" The look on her face said that she didn't need an answer. Ashamed, Fisk immediately quieted and shrank back. "Komodo?" She directed her glare at Komodo, who's only response was to remove his tail from Zak's ankle and cover his eyes with it instead.

"Look, if you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at me!" Zak protested. "Not them. They only kept it a secret because I begged them to."

"Oh, don't think that I can't be mad at all three of you!" Drew shot back. "And Zon, too. I bet she knows, doesn't she? And Doyle! Seems like you'll tell anyone except for your own parents, Zak!"

"I didn't tell Doyle!" Zak tried, but his parents were too furious to care much about a minor detail like that.

"After what happened last time, I thought you would have learned your lesson about keeping things from us," Doc said in a worryingly calm voice that made Ben _wish_ he would go back to yelling. "But a realization like that must take critical thinking and foresight that you just don't have."

"I'm not doing this in front of guests," Drew interrupted suddenly. "Zak, go to your room. Once we're in the air, we'll—"

"No." He didn't falter. Zak met his mom's stare with a flat glare of his own.

" _No?_ " She repeated, stunned. Then Drew gathered herself, just as stubborn as Zak. "That wasn't a question. I want you in your room. Right now, our biggest priority is putting as much distance between you and Argost as we can. He's going to want revenge, Zak."

"Then why bother running?" Zak threw his hands up in frustration. "He's going to hunt me to the other side of the planet if he has to! He has before! Why are we dragging it out? We can just—"

"At least it will buy us time!"

"Time for _what_? To panic and stress out for no reason when we have the weapons _now_ to—"

"Why can't you just let us protect you?"

"You can't protect me forever!"

"You're fifteen, you shouldn't—!"

"I've handled Argost before!"

_"_ The last time you faced him, _you tried to kill yourself!"_ Drew screamed. With Zak left too stunned to argue, she continued fervently. "You followed that maniac knowing that you wouldn't be coming back, _don't try to lie to me, Zak_! You're staying right here, on this airship. I don't care if you hate me for this, _I can't lose you again_!"

It was so quiet that even the sound of Drew's ragged breathing was deafening. Doc came up and set his arms around her waist, coaxing Drew into burying her face in his chest. He ran a hand down her back soothingly, looking at Zak with some of the saddest eyes Ben had ever seen. "Zak, _please_ ," he said, "please just go to your room."

For a moment, it almost seemed like Zak was going to listen. He was certainly thinking about it. Then his eyes narrowed. "You guys say I haven't changed, but you're not any better. You still treat me like a dumb kid." And with that, Zak turned and ran from the room. Fisk called weakly after him, but didn't try to give chase. Even if he had, Ben wasn't sure that Zak would have been in the mood for being comforted.

But Ben wasn't about to stay in a room so tense and uncomfortable, either. He cleared his throat, and the awkwardness got seven times worse. "I'm going to go see if I can talk to him," Ben said weakly. Zak's parents were too wrung out, apparently, to even try and stop him. They just watched blankly as Ben left the room with Rook in tow.

As soon as they were out of the room, Rook grabbed him by the upper arm. "And where do you expect to find Zak? You do not know anything about the airship's layout. Furthermore, I believe that we have long overstayed our welcome."

Despite himself, Ben scowled. He yanked his arm free of Rook's hold. "So?" He said lowly. "Zak's our friend and he's hurting. I'm going to at least _try_ to find him."

It looked like it took Rook an immense amount of effort not to roll his eyes. Instead, he nodded. Only once, and it was stiff, but it was better than nothing. "I will look down this way," he promised, nodding his head to the left.

"Divide and conquer." Ben nodded back, then turned and took the path on the right. The airship was huge, but Zak couldn't have gone far, right? And Ben was a pretty good runner.

He didn't want to run around opening every door, so Ben just tried to keep his footsteps as light as possible and listened for doors whooshing or other running steps. It didn't seem like it was paying off, after about five minutes without making any progress. Ben had no idea where he was going. The walls of the airship were uniform and there was no way to tell where he was without a map. Not even a cursory sign in the halls or on doors.

It was almost when Ben was considering giving up and attempting to find his way back that a door snapped open right next to him, and Ben was grabbed and hauled inside before he could process what was going on. He had a hand on the Omnitrix immediately, but before Ben could slam down on it, he blinked and managed to register Zak's face. Then the door was shut behind them and they were plunged into darkness, save for the sickly green glow of the Omnitrix.

"Zak." Ben glanced around, trying to adjust to the lack of light. What were they standing in, a closet? "What's going on? Why are you hiding from your parents?"

He shook his head. "They don't get it. They're still trying to protect me, as if that didn't backfire horribly the first time. Argost's going to come after me because he wants revenge and he wants my power. And, when he does, I want to be ready for him."

Considering the shaky, teary-eyed mess that Zak had been before, Ben was caught-off guard by the determination in his voice now. "Okay. And how are you going to do that?" He asked.

That made Zak hesitate. "I can use my powers on him," he said evenly. "Argost is still a cryptid. He'll be difficult, but…" He turned the Claw over in his hands, deflating. "But my powers aren't super reliable recently. To be honest, I've been hearing... voices."

"Voices?" Something clicked and Ben frowned. "Creepy voices with pointed tongues and slit eyes?"

Though he managed a smile, Zak was far from pleased. "Yeah. And it's not voice _s_ so much as it is just _one_ voice. It…" He hesitated, clearly unused to actually talking about this. "It… tells me to do bad things. To use my power to get what I want. It makes me want to hurt people, or do worse." With each word, Zak's voice got lower and lower, until Ben had to strain to hear him. It was nearly impossible over his pulse hammering in his ears. "Ben. I'm scared and I don't know what to do."

Hearing him admit it was just about _painful_. Ben winced. "Well, your parents are scientists. Maybe they can stop the voice?" He suggested, and Ben was whispering now, too. He'd never heard of animal-influencing abilities being linked to hearing an evil, creepy voice. But that was a good sign, right? It meant that Zak was just unusual. That maybe it could be cured.

"The Serpent," Zak corrected almost absentmindedly. It looked like he was removing a weight from his chest just to say the name out loud.

Ben blinked. That didn't help at all. "The _what_?"

Zak looked stricken. "That's just what I call it: the Serpent. It has dozens of names. It's not like a separate personality, Ben. It can't be removed or silenced. It's me, just… a different part of me." It was obvious how much he hated to admit it. Ben's chest squeezed with sympathy.

"But what is it?" He pressed. "Can we get rid of it, somehow? There must be _something_ we can do."

"No," Zak mumbled, shaking his head. "You're missing the point, Ben. It's not just some random ability that I got saddled with. See, the thing is…" He took a deep breath. "I'm Kur."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the ending of this chapter outlined for half a year now, it felt so fucking good to write that.
> 
> Remember that time Argost painfully murdered a child on-screen? Good shit.

**Author's Note:**

> I also have a Tumblr **[HERE](https://karkalicious769.tumblr.com/)** featuring some other links if you guys want to support my writing!
> 
> This fic is going on an **INDEFINITE HIATUS**. As of now (January 27th), I have no plans to discontinue this fic entirely. I want to finish this, but I have other things going on in my personal life and other projects that I'm more passionate about. For now, don't expect any updates any time soon. I appreciate the patience!


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